Japan, Korea Relationship

We are disappointed with and offended by “Can Korea Break Free of Japan?” (July 20). The piece had a pro-Japanese ring throughout. It omitted top authorities on the subject. Even when it did include someone of known reputation, such as Lee Hyo Chae, an eminent sociologist, we were surprised to read Lee is quoted only in the context of her family’s suffering during the Japanese occupation of Korea.

Eastern culture came from China by way of Korea to Japan. Japan being a country only half as old as Korea, any student of Asian history knows that Korea was Japan’s cultural elder brother, not the other way around. The contention that the Westernization of Korea was begun by Japanese is nonsense, too. The Westernization of Korea was begun by Christian missionaries who began to come to Korea in the 18th Century.

Japan’s only goal in Korea, after it forcibly annexed the country, was to turn Koreans into second-class Japanese by forcing Koreans to worship Japanese gods, prohibiting Koreans to speak their language and making Koreans adopt Japanese names. Koreans who resisted were tortured and killed.

Japan coveted Korea’s natural resources for its economic survival and expansion in Asia. Japan’s conquest of Asia was stopped when it went to war with the United States and lost. After World War II, Japan’s economy revived and thrived, by tremendously benefiting from the Korea War and the Vietnam War. The Korean War helped Japan to develop light industry, and the Vietnam War gave it further opportunities to advance in high technology.

Articles such as this are a continuing reminder that your correspondents working out of Tokyo and Seoul look at Korea through Japan’s prisms.

KEITH S. KIM

CHARLES KIM

KAPSON YIM LEE

Los Angeles