S. Korea Wanted Stronger Apology by Japan Emperor in 1990: Records

Seoul, March 29 (Jiji Press)--Seoul came up with a policy in 1990 of calling on then Japanese Emperor Akihito to express a more specific and stronger apology over history than that offered by his father, the late Emperor Hirohito, according to declassified diplomatic records. The policy on negotiations with Japan was drawn up in preparation for then South Korean President Roh Tae-woo's visit to Japan, which took place from May 24 to 26, 1990, the documents, released by the South Korean Foreign Ministry, showed Monday. During a 1984 Japan visit by then South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan, then Emperor Hirohito, posthumously called Emperor Showa, said it was very regrettable that there was an unfortunate past between the two countries at one point in the century and that this should never be repeated. The South Korean government said in a document in April 1990 that people in South Korean were dissatisfied with the statement by Emperor Hirohito as it was ambiguous about to whom and for what he was apologizing. A repetition of similar levels of apology would not meet the expectations of South Korean people, the document said, adding that any new apology by Japan's Emperor should clearly refer to the specific content of the unfortunate past and express remorse. Given that the Japanese government was considering choosing South Korea as the first overseas trip destination for Emperor Akihito, who ascended the throne in January 1989, the South Korean government had a policy of informing Tokyo, during Roh's visit to Japan, of its plan to ask the Emperor to visit South Korea if his apology was satisfactory. At a banquet held for Roh at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on May 24, 1990, Emperor Akihito, the father of current Emperor Naruhito and now holding the title of Emperor Emeritus, said that he could not help but feel deep regret when he thought of the pain South Korean people suffered during the unfortunate past brought by Japan. On May 28 that year, the Japanese government revealed that the South Korean side, during Roh's Japan visit, formally invited Emperor Akihito to visit South Korea. In another document, crafted in early June 1990, the South Korean government said that the clear regret and apology shown by Emperor Akihito was able to settle the unfortunate past between the two countries and shut the door on issues stemming from that past. END