‘Pro-Japanese’ smear disappointing, critics say, as Seoul and Tokyo rebuild ties with naval drills

Democratic Party chairman Lee Jae-myung accuses Yoon administration of ‘crow-eating diplomacy’ and ‘defence disaster’ over military exercises with Tokyo and US

Lee’s attack ‘disappointing’ and ‘odd’ that there are still claims Japan will invade South Korea again, official from Japanese research institute says

3-MIN READ3-MIN

A South Korea-US-Japan joint naval drill in the East Sea earlier this month, in response to North Korea’s latest firing of intermediate-range ballistic and short-range ballistic missiles. Photo: US Department of Defense via YNA/dpa

Published: 12:30pm, 12 Oct 2022Updated: 5:11pm, 12 Oct 2022

Comments denouncing the South Korean government as “pro-Japanese” are “regrettable”, critics say, as the two countries seek to rebuild ties amid the resumption of joint military exercises.

Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the Democratic Party, on Monday accused President Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration of an “extreme pro-Japanese act” and of overseeing a “defence disaster” after South Korean warships took part in a series of naval drills with units from the United States and Japan in late September.

Despite North Korea firing seven ballistic missiles in the space of 15 days, including an intermediate-range missile that flew over northern Japan, Lee said he anticipated a time when Japanese forces could be stationed in South Korea and “The Red Sun flag flies on the Korean peninsula”.

Lee Jae-myung during a speech in August 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/Yonhap

Lee, who lost to Yoon in the presidential election in March, accused the government of “crow-eating diplomacy towards Japan”, adding that the drills could be “interpreted as acknowledging Japan’s Self-Defence Forces as an official military”.

Lee’s comments drew flak, with Chung Jin-suk, the head of the ruling People Power Party, on Tuesday describing them as “a frivolous take on history”.

The Japanese government has made no comment on Lee’s criticism, although an official of the National Institute for Defence Studies (NIDS) said they were “disappointing” but not that surprising, despite the threat posed by an increasingly belligerent North Korea and the need for like-minded governments in the region to pool their resources.

“It is odd that some people still claim Japan intends to invade Korea again, but I think most people in Japan have got used to these sorts of illogical accusations against Japan, based on their particular point of view [of history],” said the official, who declined to be identified.