Record Keeps Spinning

Korean civic groups are unhappy with yet another apology from the Japanese government about the occuptation period between 1910 and 1945.

This really isn't so important to blog about, but I think it's a telling part of Korean culture. There's a certain stubbornness here about issues that no one in their right mind would care about.

Former comfort women showing their discomfort. Get it?

The occupation by Japan was clearly a brutal time, but it was generations ago. Yes, some of the "comfort women" are still alive today, and deserve some compensation, but the current administration can only realistically do so much. Do we really hold people today accountable for something with which they had nothing to do? I don't think we should.

But I have common sense.

To make matters worse, Korean groups have used this apology as yet another chance to bring up "Dokdo." Or as I like to call it: Takeshima.

'They say his apology for Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula lacked in sincerity and was made to avoid responsibility for its brutal treatment of Koreans ahead of the centenary of the annexation, which falls on Aug. 29. They also urged Japan to stop claiming rights over the Dokdo islets.

On Tuesday, Kan expressed deep regrets over the suffering inflicted upon the Korean people during the period and pledged to make efforts to deepen ties with South Korea. He came short of admitting that Japan’s annexation treaty with Korea, which was signed on Aug. 22 in 1910 and took effect a week later, was illegal.'

I shouldn't have a problem with the Dokdo issue, but I do, and I'll tell you why. Even the most level-headed of all Koreans actually care about this. I say that referring to the majority. I have met a few Koreans around my age and younger who don't care if that island even exists anymore. So they either get it, or are even further out of the loop.

Here's a fact: There is nothing worthwhile on that island. My Korean friends tell me it's a fishing resource and they'll brag about the Koreans livign there. There are Koreans living there. It's one older couple. They're the equivalent of planting a human Korean flag on the soil.

So until someone can tell me why Dokdo actually holds any importance, I'll continue to make fun of it. I have a joke with my close Korean friends and my girlfriend where I call the island Takeshima. My girlfriend laughs and playfully hits me, but I know that deep down inside it would bother her to know that I think the whole situation is simply silly.

I've posted a few things on Dokdo before and gotten a couple of responses. If someone could enlighten me of the true value of the island, I'm all ears. But as I said it, it's just a pawn in a little game of "who has the biggest balls in Asia."