Joint studies should continue to seek mutual understanding of history
(From The Japan Times March 31 issue)

日韓歴史研究、相互理解を目指して

apanese and South Korean historians March 23 issued a report on the second round of discussions on the shared history of the two nations. Objections to the nationalistic content of a history textbook approved by Japan's education ministry led to the two countries agreeing in 2001 to launch the first joint-history study group and opinions on the subject of textbooks remain particularly contentious.

The second study group began in June 2007 and involved 17 scholars from each country. In addition to textbook content, it covered the areas of ancient history, the Middle Ages to near-modern history, and modern to contemporary history. The South Korean scholars said that Japanese textbooks' coverage of the Japanese military's use of sex slaves, many of whom were Korean, has dwindled since 1996 as conservative trends have become more pronounced in Japanese society. The Japanese academics complained that South Korean textbooks fail to mention Japan's war-renouncing Constitution and barely cover Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama's Aug. 15, 1995, apology concerning Japan's 20th-century colonialism, and wars of the 1930s and '40s.

The South Korean side said that Japan recruited Koreans as forced laborers and "comfort women" in a systematic and deceptive way, but the Japanese side insisted that Japan had no systematic policy in either regard. The South Korean side did accept that during the war years, many Koreans voluntarily moved to Japan to seek employment.

The two sides were divided over the teaching of the Japanese language in colonial Korea. The Japanese side said that many Koreans avidly studied Japanese as a means of gaining knowledge and work skills. The Korean side pointed to the coercive environment surrounding the teaching of Japanese.

Bickering also continued over Takeshima (known as Dokdo in South Korea), a group of disputed islets in the Sea of Japan.

It will be extremely difficult for the two nations to find a common view of their shared history, but for each to gain a clear understanding of the other's stance is a big step toward true mutual understanding. The joint studies should continue.

日韓の学者による第2期歴史共同研究の報告書が発表された。歴史教科書の内容に加え、古代史、中近世史、近現代史が研究対象となった。韓国側は、政治や社会の保守化で日本の教科書から従軍慰安婦に関する記述が減ったと論じ、日本側は憲法9条や村山談話を教科書に盛り込むよう求めた。韓国の研究者は日本が朝鮮人をだまして組織的に労働者や慰安婦を集めたと主張、日本は計画性を否定した。韓国側は、仕事を求めて自主的に日本へ渡った人もいることを認めた。

植民地下での日本語教育では、近代的知識、技術を得る道具と認識されていたと日本が主張、韓国側は強制的構造の存在を指摘した。竹島（韓国名･独島）領有権問題でも対立が残った。歴史をめぐり日韓で共通の認識を持つことは容易ではないが、相手側のスタンスを明確に理解することは相互理解への大きな一歩であり、今後も共同研究が続けられることを願う。