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Sun, September 24, 2023 | 19:06
Japan's rightist moves gaining momentum
日 '자살특공대 유서' 세계유산 등재신청…논란일 듯
Posted : 2014-02-05 16:47
Updated : 2014-02-05 16:47
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By Kang Seung-woo

The confrontation between Korea and Japan is expanding, with Tokyo creating more buzz regarding its imperialist past and wartime aggression and Seoul standing firm against the rightist moves.

Unlike being limited to absurd remarks in the past, Japan and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are employing a strategy stretching into the area of culture.

The latest tilt is taking place at UNESCO, as a city of the island country is seeking to add suicide notes and letters written by kamikaze pilots during World War II to the institution's World Heritage list.

Approximately 4,000 kamikaze pilots carried out suicide attacks against U.S. naval vessels in the closing stages of WW II.

According to NHK, the Chiran Peace Museum in Minamikyushu has preserved 14,000 letters, farewell notes and poems written by pilots before they left from bases mainly in Kyushu, and submitted 330 to be included in the 2015 UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

Upon hearing the news, Korea voiced objections to the action, saying that the suicide attacks do not represent the outstanding universal value of World Heritage Sites.

Last month, Japan also disclosed its plan to seek recognition from the United Nations agency for its industrial facilities where Koreans were forced to work during the colonial period, from 1910 to 1945, as intangible cultural assets. That was countered by Korea's Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which in response pushed to enlist records of Japan's use of wartime sex slaves onto the UNESCO World Heritage list.

"The move is against the primary concept of the UNESCO list," Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, Tuesday.

Along with the UNESCO inclusion, Korea and Japan are also in conflict concerning "comfort woman" ― sex slaves forced into prostitution by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II ― as seen in the United States, where Japan is attempting to remove comfort women statues honoring Asian women and girls.

Last month, the two countries exchanged words about Korea's independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun's memorial hall, set up in China.

The Japanese government called Ahn a terrorist who had been sentenced to death for killing Japan's first Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito, while Korea condemned Japan for being ignorant and anti-historic.

The strained ties between the two sides are expected to continue for the time being.

"The Japanese government seems not to want to change its stance in the short-term, so Korea's firm response is likely to follow," said a government official.

"We will seek countermeasures to deal with issues arising from Japan in various ways."


日 '자살특공대 유서' 세계유산 등재신청…논란일 듯

'군국주의 위한 죽음 미화 우려'…적절성 문제 제기 예상 
 
일본 가고시마(鹿兒島)현 '지란(知覽)특공평화회관'이 4일 태평양전쟁 말기 가미카제(神風) 자살특공대로 동원됐던 대원들의 유서 등을 세계기록유산으로 등재 신청키로 해 논란이 예상된다.
 
일본 언론에 따르면 미나미큐슈(南九州)시 소재의 지란평화회관에는 현재 자살특공대원의 유서, 사진 등 1만 4천여 점이 소장돼 있는데, 이 가운데 본인 이름 등이 확인되고 직필로 쓰인 유서와 편지 등 333점을 2015년 세계기록유산으로 유네스코에 등재 신청한다.
 
지란은 전쟁 중 육군 소년비행단 훈련 학교 등이 있던 곳으로 일본군은 전황이 불리해지자 이곳을 육군 최후의 특공기지로 삼아 자살 특공대원들을 태운 전투기를 대거 출격시켰다.
 
이와 별도로 교토부(府) 마이쓰루(舞鶴)시도 일본 패전 후 시베리아에 억류됐던 일본군 포로·인양 관련 자료를 다음 달 세계기록유산으로 등재 신청할 방침이다.
 
시모이데 간베이(霜出勘平) 미나미큐슈 시장은 '내일은 목숨이 없다는 극한의 상황에서 특공대원이 남긴 진실한 언어를 보존·승계해 세계에 전쟁의 비참함을 전하고 싶다'고 말했다.
 
그러나 특공대원의 유서를 세계기록유산으로 등재하려는 시도는 많은 논란을 일으킬 것으로 보인다.
 
전쟁의 비극을 보여주겠다는 취지에도 실제로는 군국주의를 위해 목숨을 버린 이들을 미화할 우려가 있기 때문이다.
 
특공대원이 죽음을 감수한 과정에 대한 해석이 엇갈리는 점도 논쟁의 소지가 있다.
 
이들이 자발적으로 목숨 바쳤다는 견해도 있지만 일본 학자 오누키 에미코(大貫惠美子) 씨는 특공대에 관한 저서 '죽으라면 죽으리라'에서 가미카제 대원 대부분이 '지원'을 강요받은 젊은이라고 분석했다.
 
앞서 일본은 조선인 징용자의 한(恨)이 서린 기타큐슈(北九州)시의 야하타(八幡) 제철소 등 메이지(明治) 시대 일본 산업혁명 유산을 유네스코 세계문화유산으로 추천하기로 해 논란을 일으킨 바 있다.
 
당시 우리 정부는 '이웃 국가의 아픔과 관련 있는 시설을 세계문화 유산에 등재하는 것은 인류 보편적인 가치를 기리는 세계문화유산의 취지에 맞지 않는다'며 철회를 요구했으나 일본 정부는 수용하지 않았다.
Emailksw@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
miguel
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