The "liberation" celebrations in South Korea are likely to be somewhat troubled by the "new right" attempt to rewrite history where Japanese colonization and crimes against humanity were a good thing for Korea. The "new right" are really the old legacy elites descended from the collaborator class, that have tried to keep their heads down since the end of the Park Chung-hee dictatorship. The new relationship with Japan (promoted by the US) isn't going over well. It was always a difficult sales job.

US collaborators. "Half of Koreans hired by US military gov’t in Seoul had worked for Japanese colonizers, book shows." https://t.co/wBaN09LNQ3

— Tim Shorrock (@TimothyS) August 12, 2024

The above tweet about the US using Japanese collaborators after the "liberation" of Korea is related historically, socially and politically, to the article immediately below.

Recent moves by Yoon prove he sees eye to eye with Japan’s far right

Based on this stance of historical denial, the Japanese government has consistently ignored the 2018 ruling of the South Korean Supreme Court regarding ordering Japanese corporations to compensate victims of forced mobilization. The problem with the Yoon administration is not its historical viewpoint but its willingness to accept and internalize Abe’s historical denial.

Experts are worried that President Yoon Suk-yeol views the Japan policies of the preceding Moon administration as a complete failure, and is willing to acquiesce to Japan’s justifications of its imperial conquests to accomplish his mission of “normalizing” relations with Japan.

“The problem is that in the name of national security, the current administration has become complicit in Japan’s refusal to abide by a Supreme Court ruling on the illegality of forced mobilization. It is also normalizing anti-Korean thought in the name of countering North Korea,” said Nam Ki-jeong, professor at the Seoul National University Institute for Japanese Studies.

“We are getting to the point where people within Japan are claiming that, in order to counter the strategic threat of China, Japan needs to take responsibility for the security of the Korean Peninsula. Meanwhile, the Yoon administration seems to be leading us back to the South Korea-Japan relations of the Park Chung-hee era. We are on an ahistorical and dangerous road,” Nam added.

The Diplomat ran a piece on the Yoon far right and its pro-Japan stance simply being wrong headed last week-

Japan’s Sado Island Gold Mines Designated as UNESCO World Heritage Site With South Korea’s Backing

Japan and South Korea are covering up Sado Island’s dark side in a severe misconstruction of the meanings of UNESCO World Heritage, diplomacy, and history.

Great, more war... "South Korea and US will start summer military drills next week to counter North Korean threats." https://t.co/jZ7KghnJ2K

— Tim Shorrock (@TimothyS) August 12, 2024

Japan to open U.S.-inspired defense tech research center in October

The new entity, which will be subordinate to the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, will also function as a think tank to monitor global research trends in cutting-edge technologies and manage subsidy programs for studies of dual-use technologies in the private sector that can be applied in both defense and civilian arenas.

In the budget for the current fiscal year that began in April, the government earmarked 21.7 billion yen ($147 million) related to the establishment of the institute.

The establishment of the research organization was stipulated in the National Defense Strategy, compiled in December 2022, with its purpose set at finding "multi-use cutting-edge technologies that contribute to defense equipment development, and to produce equipment that leads to defense innovation."

The strategy is one of Japan's key security documents, which have paved the way for the country's biggest defense buildup since World War II in response to China's rise and North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

Nice euphemism, "defense equipment development," that means weapons systems development. Time to restart unit 731?

Shinzo Abe was proud of Unit 731
byu/xerotul inSino