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| Highschool students join the consumer boycott of Japanese products in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul in this July 26 file photo. / Korea Times file photo |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
British travel writer Michael Booth is one of many Westerners struck by the paradoxes of East Asia.
In the eyes of Westerners, East Asia is two-faced. On one side, it is a region of wonder full of fascinating culture that keeps attracting people of the rest of the world and resilient economies full of opportunities.
The other side of East Asia is rather regressive. Three countries ― South Korea, China and Japan ― are stuck in historical animosity over their tragic past shaped from the 1880s to the end of World War II. For this reason, it is a region of historical backwardness.
Booth was perplexed at the lingering diplomatic spat, wondering what makes it so difficult for the countries to seek a future of mutual gain together.
With a mission to find convincing answers to the question, the British author of seven books decided to explore four East Asian nations ― South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan.
He chose a slow travel approach to visit the cities with traces of a tragic past, including war, atrocities and tragedies caused by chemical weapons. He took a ferry from Osaka, Japan, to Busan, South Korea. He also endured seasickness on a ferry connecting the South Korean port city of Incheon to the Chinese city of Quingdao near the West Sea.
The British man met locals to listen to their side of stories about grudges they and fellow nationals harbor toward neighboring countries. He interviewed journalists, current affairs experts, students, activists and filmmakers to hear unknown stories.
His findings are summarized in his forthcoming book, "Three Tigers, One Mountain: A Journey Through the Bitter History and Current Conflicts of China, Korea and Japan," published by Penguin Random House UK.
The title of the book came from the old Chinese proverb, "Two tigers cannot share a mountain" which tells of inevitable clashes between rivals to dominate the territory.
It is a travelogue with a heavy-hearted topic.
Booth points his fingers at self-serving politicians as culprits responsible for inciting locals to sustain their resentment toward Japan.
"Many I spoke to in Japan and elsewhere believed that the Chinese and the Koreans are being fed crudely propagandist narratives by their political elites," he wrote in the book. "Japan bashing is a sure-fire hit with the electorates of both countries; it guarantees a round of applause when a politician's popularity is waning or offers a useful distraction from domestic crises."
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| "Three Tigers One Mountain: A Journey Through the Bitter History and Current Conflicts of China, Korea, and Japan" by Michael Booth |
Booth also concludes history education in South Korea and China is partially responsible for cultivating their nationals' anger toward Japan, citing a 2011 academic survey conducted by Gi-wook Shin and Daniel Sneider of Stanford University. "(It) showed Chinese and South Korean history books to be revisionist to an extraordinary extent, as well as aggressively nationalist and highly selective, omitting references to the role of the Americans in defeating the Japanese and all mention of the atomic bombing of Japan, for instance," the book read.
Booth appears to be siding with Japan when it comes to history education. "The Japanese used to be better at this than most of us, and were definitely better than their neighbors," he says.
According to the Stanford University researchers, he said, the Japanese textbooks offered a clear message. "The wars in Asia were a product of Japan's imperial expansion and the decision to go to war with the United States was a disastrous mistake that inflicted a terrible cost on the nation and its civilian population," he cited from the paper.
His conclusion about who's ultimately responsible for the persisting historical animosity in East Asia, albeit seven decades after the end of World War II, seems to support the so-called "victim mentality" as a source of lingering diplomatic spats among the three countries.
Victims tend to keep complaining, demanding criminals offer apologies again and again.
"Three Tigers" and its conclusion is a meaningful literary journey to dig into what's inside in Korean, Chinese and Japanese minds to draw non-textbook lessons about historical animosity.
His trip to the northeastern city of Harbin leads readers to witness the Japanese government-led human experiment and germ warfare which was initiated and conducted by the notorious Unit 731. Citing Chinese researchers, Booth says the Japanese used chemical weapons 1,919 times in 20 Chinese provinces in the 1930s.
"Three Tigers" is an informative piece offering readers clues to ultra-nationalism in Japan who have launched anti-Korea protests. Based on his interviews with Japanese experts and journalists, Booth detailed how the anti-Korean campaign was initiated and how it was countered by ordinary Japanese citizens from all walks of life.
Despite these benefits, the travelogue appears not to be thoughtful enough to go deep enough to untangle the roots of resentment of Koreans and Chinese.
The conclusion of "Three Tigers" reminds me of the award-winning Korean movie "Secret Sunshine." In the 2007 movie, a female protagonist loses her only son in a murder case after losing her husband. Years after living in anger, anguish and agony, she eventually finds peace in religion. She goes to prison to meet the criminal who killed her son and tells him she now forgives him. The killer tells her that he too had become a Christian years before and got redemption from God, so he feels at peace. His reaction resuscitates anger deep down in her heart.
Saying sorry is easier than forgiving someone who harmed you.
Apologies accepted is one thing and the victim living the rest of their life with pain inside is another. This is because a certain act has so devastating, irreversible effects on one's life that it cannot be fully recovered, even though the aggressors make many apologies afterwards. In this case, saying sorry is not enough. Repetition of it cannot restore the victim to what they were before the incident.
The grudges Koreans harbor toward Japan because of the past tragic history may be a thing that can never go away, partly because some war victims are still alive and their tragic stories are passing down to their offspring.
