With the exception of a few great powers, most of the existing countries have suffered a painful history of foreign aggression and colonial rule. This was particularly true in the age of imperialism from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. There were only two completely independent countries in Africa, as well as in the entire continent of Asia from the Middle East to the Far East, Japan and Thailand. At that time, the use of force by a state was considered a legitimate act of sovereignty, and no international law made territorial annexation or colonial rule by force illegal. It was made illegal after the Second World War.
At that time, the countries that suffered the most were Vietnam in Asia and Poland in Europe. Vietnam lost 8 million people, or 10% of its total population, due to French colonial rule in 1883, the Japanese military presence in 1940, the French War of Independence in 1950, and the 10-year war against the United States. Poland regained its independence in 1918 after disappearing from the map for 123 years after the entire country was divided by Germany, Russia and Austria. After that, it was divided and united again by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, and was revived in 1945. During those six years, it lost 5.6 million people, including 3 million of Jews, their lives in the hands of Nazi Germany, and 20,000 leaders such as military officers, police, and intellectuals 2000 people were massacred by Soviet forces.
Historian Arnold Toynbee said, “The greatest tragedy of mankind is that we learn no lessons from the history of the past.” This is in line with the old European saying, “There is no future for a country that forgets its past.” It means that we must learn lessons from the past and prepare so that the same misfortune never happens again. In the relationship between countries, such a history lesson mainly means building a prosperous country and a strong military force, that is, to prepare for future challenges and disasters. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t forget about the historical memories of the past and remember them for a long time.
Vietnam is sending a message to all past aggressors to “hide the past and cooperate for the future.” This is because national prosperity through economic development is the nation’s top priority. In the past, when Kim Dae-jung’s government presented a joint investigation and willingness to make amends for the ‘suspected massacre of Vietnamese civilians by Korean troops’, the Vietnamese government immediately refused, saying, “We oppose any discussion about the past. .” Poland, which had gone through national annihilation twice in the past, first joined NATO after the end of the Cold War to escape the Russian threat and strengthen security cooperation with Germany, the nation’s long-time enemy which is accelerating massive military buildup.
The successes of Yeonguijeong Ryu Seong-ryong and Admiral Yi Sun-sin, who tried to pass on the lessons of the Imjin War to future generations, were soon forgotten in Joseon, who tried to hide the scandalous history, but Japan studied them for hundreds of years and remembers the lessons of the war. Admiral Heihachiro Dogo, who defeated the Russian Baltic Fleet in 1905, prayed for victory to Yi Sun-sin before the battle, and in a celebration after the victory, Japanese historical sources report that he was inferior to Yi Sun-sin as a non-commissioned officer. In contrast, Joseon, after experiencing the Japanese invasion, was immersed in only pro-myeongsadae and factional fights without any countermeasures, and was hit again in 30 years by Jeongmyo and Byeongja Horan, and then collapsed in the face of an imperial invasion of the end from the 19th century without any countermeasures.
Even today, 80 years after the end of colonial rule, the demand for additional apologies and compensation for those days is a hot topic in Korea. However, in this age where everyone lives together for the future, even in a country that has gone through a more horrific past than ours, we cannot live buried in the past in lonely Kenya, Indonesia and Namibia also demanded an apology and compensation from the colonial powers, but these were only requests limited to specific cases of genocide. Nevertheless, if we want to continue discussing the history of the past, we should also discuss the history of the past with North Korea and China, which caused an aggressive war and took the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
The lesson we can learn from the history of that period is to make sure that the country is prosperous and strong so that the same misfortune does not repeat itself. The memory of 36 years of Japanese rule cannot be erased, but it must not become an obstacle to future security and prosperity. The 1965 Agreement on Basic Relations between Korea and Japan and the Joint Declaration between Kim Dae-jung and Obuchi in 1998 were bold political decisions that presented concrete paths for both countries to move beyond the past and moving towards the future. The path that Korea-Japan relations should follow is as clear as ever. All that is needed is courageous action by the government and people to cross the river of past history.
