Japan’s pettiness
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In 2012, actor Song Il-gook was denied entry to Japan after he participated in a relay swim to Dokdo.
Before that, singer Jeong Gwang-tae, whose song “Dokdo is Our Land” is popular among Koreans,
was denied an entry visa in 1996.
In 2011, the K-pop boy bands Beast and CNBLUE were held up by immigration officials at a Tokyo airport
for eight hours and had to return to Korea, apparently because tension over the Dokdo issue was running high.
Popular K-pop singer Lee Seung-chul has made his song promoting Korea's sovereignty over Dokdo available
free on the Internet.
The move is seen as a protest against Japan denying him entry last Sunday, apparently because he sang the
patriotic song in August.
The Korean Embassy in Tokyo asked Japan to explain why the veteran singer had been denied entry.
Japanese authorities would not say why,
citing protection of privacy and customary procedure.
In response, Seoul's foreign ministry spokesman said, "It's regrettable
for a Korean national to be denied
entry for dubious reasons."
These people are not politicians, and in truth, they play even bigger roles than government officials and
politicians in bringing people in the two countries closer, which can help them leave their historical
animosities behind.
It is a pity that the Japanese authorities made such a lame, cowardly excuse, instead of coming clean.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry maintained the same evasive attitude, saying it was not disclosing the
reason why it was blocking Lee’s entry in order to protect his “privacy.”
The recent case of Japan denying entry to a Korean singer showed, however, how difficult it would be
for Japan to change its attitude regarding its past and its neighbors.
The ban on Lee’s entry, the latest in a string of similar cases, convinces us that the Japanese government
keeps a blacklist of celebrities who are engaged in activities involving Dokdo.
Relations between South Korea and Japan are so strained that their leaders have not held a one-on-one
summit for more than two years, with the major stumbling block being the Japanese leader’s revisionist
policy on the wrongdoings committed by his country during its occupation of the peninsula.
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1. What do you think of celebrity's expression/ remarks on political issues ?
2. Throughout Japan's some of reprisals, they seemed to be petty.
If so, why do you think Japan had become ramshackle, corrupt, petty ?