Hiroshima, Nagasaki bombings called ‘divine punishment’ by South Korean daily
Anger in Tokyo after labelling of attacks on Hiroshima, Nagasaki as ‘divine punishment’
Agence France-Presse in Tokyo 27 May 2013
A small group of Japanese right-wingers yesterday staged a protest against a South Korean daily that said the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were “divine punishment”.
Some 40 protesters carrying Japanese flags gathered outside a building where the Tokyo bureau of the Joongang Ilbo is located.
Last week, an editorial in the daily’s Korean and English versions said the 1945 nuclear bombs dropped by US planes, which together killed more than 200,000 people, were justified.
“The Joongang Ilbo, shame on you!” the right-wingers yelled in chorus. “We will never forgive your anti-Japanese remarks. Go back to the Korean peninsula!”
The signed editorial said the carpet-bombing of the German city of Dresden and the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima were acts of “divine punishment and human retaliation”.
During the rally, the right-wingers also backed outspoken Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto, who drew fire by saying that women forced to provide sex to Japanese troops during the Second World War were a military necessity. Opinion polls show that a large majority of Japanese disagree with the mayor’s remarks on the so-called comfort women.
Up to 200,000 women from China, Korea, the Philippines and elsewhere were forcibly drafted into brothels catering to the Japanese military during the war, historians say. The mayor has said wartime sex slavery served a “necessary” role keeping battle-stressed soldiers in line, setting off a volley of criticism from countries under Japan’s rule in the 1930s and ‘40s, as well as from the United States.
On Thursday in Seoul, there were protests at the Japanese embassy, mostly by army veterans groups angered at Hashimoto’s contention that South Korean soldiers serving in the Vietnam war had also abused women. Hashimoto pledged to apologise for his remarks, while insisting Japan’s soldiers were not unique in brutalising women.
1 comment:
Hiroshima, Nagasaki bombings called ‘divine punishment’ by South Korean daily
Anger in Tokyo after labelling of attacks on Hiroshima, Nagasaki as ‘divine punishment’
Agence France-Presse in Tokyo
27 May 2013
A small group of Japanese right-wingers yesterday staged a protest against a South Korean daily that said the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were “divine punishment”.
Some 40 protesters carrying Japanese flags gathered outside a building where the Tokyo bureau of the Joongang Ilbo is located.
Last week, an editorial in the daily’s Korean and English versions said the 1945 nuclear bombs dropped by US planes, which together killed more than 200,000 people, were justified.
“The Joongang Ilbo, shame on you!” the right-wingers yelled in chorus. “We will never forgive your anti-Japanese remarks. Go back to the Korean peninsula!”
The signed editorial said the carpet-bombing of the German city of Dresden and the atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima were acts of “divine punishment and human retaliation”.
During the rally, the right-wingers also backed outspoken Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto, who drew fire by saying that women forced to provide sex to Japanese troops during the Second World War were a military necessity. Opinion polls show that a large majority of Japanese disagree with the mayor’s remarks on the so-called comfort women.
Up to 200,000 women from China, Korea, the Philippines and elsewhere were forcibly drafted into brothels catering to the Japanese military during the war, historians say. The mayor has said wartime sex slavery served a “necessary” role keeping battle-stressed soldiers in line, setting off a volley of criticism from countries under Japan’s rule in the 1930s and ‘40s, as well as from the United States.
On Thursday in Seoul, there were protests at the Japanese embassy, mostly by army veterans groups angered at Hashimoto’s contention that South Korean soldiers serving in the Vietnam war had also abused women. Hashimoto pledged to apologise for his remarks, while insisting Japan’s soldiers were not unique in brutalising women.
Post a Comment