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Left-winger examines 'close but distant' Japan

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'Observing Japan' finds mistranslation of diplomatic rhetoric exacerbates Korea-Japan ties

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Yum Jong-soon's "Observing Japan for 30 Years: 18 Reasons Why Korea Will Defeat Japan," published by Tornado, reveals a new factor that pits South Korea and Japan against each other ― mistranslation.

Yum, a self-proclaimed leading expert on Japan, said the two countries' common usage of Chinese characters, ironically, has become a source of a diplomatic rift as some expressions are used completely differently in the two countries.

The author, who has lived in Japan for 30 years, founding and running his own business, said President Moon Jae-in's use of the Chinese expression "jeok-ban-ha-jang" in response to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to remove South Korea from the "white list" last year was misinterpreted and thus infuriated the Japanese public.

In a Cabinet meeting on August 2, Moon described Japan's actions using the expression, which translates to "the robber blaming the owner of the house he's burgling."

In Korea, it is used when an offender tries to hold the victim accountable for certain misdeeds.

Moon's statement implied that Tokyo was trying to punish Seoul despite South Korea being the victim ― in this case of Japan's wartime forced labor.

Moon went on to say that he won't sit back, claiming Japan had gone too far.

Yum said Moon's rhetoric was mistranslated by Japanese media outlets.

"President Moon was quoted by the Japanese media as saying the Japanese leader is a shameless person as the Japanese journalists directly translated the Chinese characters into Japanese without considering how the term is used in Korea," his book reads. "Many Japanese were outraged. In Japan, 'shame on you' is a very radical expression and few people use it. Although President Moon used the Chinese characters in the Korean context and likely wanted to express that Japan was not in a position to take such a harsh measure against South Korea, the Japanese people didn't take it as such because the phrase is used in a very different circumstance in Japan. Although I understood what he meant, I personally believe using such words is diplomatically incorrect."

South Korea-Japan relations are in dire straits, though the two nations haven't been close since the end of World War II, which terminated Japan's 35-year colonial rule of Korea.

Phrases like "sour" or "from bad to worse" have long been used to define the status of their relations. The domination of such negative adjectives or phrases in describing Korea-Japan relations is not a surprise for those who watched them closely for decades. Japan's brutal colonial rule paved the way for historical animosity among Koreans even after they were liberated from Japan's colonial rule. The unsettled past ― including Japan's wartime crimes and the U.S. government's strategic negligence of it ― has become the center of post-war disputes.

Some watchers blame self-serving politicians for "using" bilateral relations to fulfill their political goals. They try to make personal gains, particularly ahead of elections, by stoking anger among their nationals as a populist campaign strategy to gain more votes.

Yum said Koreans and Japanese think they know each other well, maybe because they are geographically close and share several cultural similarities.

"Their common use of Chinese characters, however, led them to guess and sometimes misinterpret their counterpart's motives because some expressions are used in very different circumstances," the book reads. "Some Koreans put that Japan is a close but distant country. I think this characterization is not accurate. The more accurate description of Japan for Koreans will be that it is a close country but culturally, a very different one."

Yum Jong-soon's
Yum Jong-soon's "Observing Japan for 30 Years: 18 Reasons Why Korea Will Defeat Japan," published by Tornado, reveals a new factor that pits South Korea and Japan against each other ― mistranslation.

"Observing Japan" is an informative piece that helps Koreans better understand Japan, the Japanese people and their culture as the book touches upon several topics that are critical to understanding the country.

But the credibility of some information mentioned in the book is questionable as the author becomes judgmental and tries to portray certain phenomena from his own subjective standpoint.

For this reason, it is fair to say "Observing Japan" is a left-winger's guidebook for Japan and Japanese culture.

Introducing his conversation with an unnamed Japanese lawmaker and his wife over dinner, the author said he told them not to trust Korea's mainstream newspapers and alleged their coverage is not politically neutral.

"I understand Japanese people read three Korean newspapers ― the Chosun, JoongAng and Dong A Ilbo newspapers ― to keep them updated about what's going on inside Korea. The thing is that those newspapers are not politically neutral," he says in the book. "This is why Koreans call the trio 'gireggi' media and give them the thumbs down."

"Gireggi" ― a portmanteau of the words "reporter" and "garbage" in Korean ― is a pejorative term used to refer to reporters that have an unprofessional work ethic.

Just as Sankei is a far-right media outlet in Japan, the author says, the three Korean newspapers' articles don't represent the views of the vast majority of Koreans.

Yum says Koreans in general are quick-tempered and emotional and become divisive when things go badly. But, he says, at a time of crisis they forget their divisive past and unite to overcome it.

Contrary to Koreans, the author says, Japanese rarely reveal their emotions in public and trust their politicians and the media. According to him, the Japanese media try to curry favor with those who are in power.

The author puts forth the suggestion that the two countries should overcome their cultural differences and work together to mend fences and move forward for mutual gain.


Kang Hyun-kyung hkang@koreatimes.co.kr


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