An infuriated South Korea: Is this how to conduct diplomacy with neighbors?

WE’VE ALL KNOWN people who just can’t get along with anybody. They always seem to be embroiled in an overblown feud over some petty issue with a neighbor or coworker. They tend to have frequent misunderstandings or arguments with their spouses, family members, or friends that cause them to break off contact or resort to an icy silence. Even if the relationship is patched up, it’s just a matter of time before it turns sour again after another inevitable tiff. It’s an endless pattern that will just keep repeating itself.

And we all know that human relations can be an apt analogy for relations between nations.

Which brings us to an editorial in the Asahi Shimbun that finally comes out and says what everyone else has been thinking for some time now: When South Korea can’t get along with any other country, it’s not the fault of those other countries.

It’s a South Korean problem.

The editorial is called Turmoil in South Korea, and the English version is here. But the title of the Japanese-language version is more to the point, so I used it for the title of this post–An infuriated South Korea: Is this how to conduct diplomacy with neighbors?

The Asahi’s first example is the United States. While the U.S. is not a geographical neighbor, it does have a large presence in the country and is the guarantor of their security.

Arriving in South Korea last week, U.S. President George W. Bush was greeted by anti-American demonstrators who stayed up all night to protest Lee’s unpopular decision to resume imports of U.S. beef.

The English version omits the mention in the Japanese editorial that riot police had to hose down the demonstrators.

The second example is Japan:

The territorial dispute over the Takeshima islets, known as Tokto in South Korea, was rekindled by Tokyo’s decision to mention the controversy in Japanese guidebooks for junior high school teachers. Eggs were hurled at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, while South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung Soo traveled to the tiny islets to back up Seoul’s claims.

The Asahi could have brought up the petulance displayed by South Korea when it cancelled or postponed numerous events designed to further business and academic ties or grass roots exchanges, but chose not to.

Then it brings up the North Koreans.

In its dealings with North Korea as well, Lee’s government appears clueless on how to initiate dialogue. A proposal for food aid was turned down by Pyongyang.

They’re even getting into it with the Chinese:

A debate rages over whether Koguryo, a kingdom that died out more than 1,300 years ago, was a Korean state or a regional regime of China. When the torch relay for the Beijing Olympics passed through Seoul, meanwhile, violent clashes also broke out between Chinese and Koreans along the route.

The Asahi draws the conclusion that we all reached weeks ago:

A common thread running through them all is aggravation on the part of the South Korean people.

Being a newspaper of the Left, the Asahi attributes this aggravation to widening “economic disparities” and the intensified stress (emphasis) on the market economy. They say:

Resentment continues to grow among those who fail to seize the opportunities.

Well, if you fail to seize your opportunities, don’t take it out on everyone else!

As is the case with those people who never seem to be able to get along with anyone, the real problem is that the person who is always aggravated isn’t at peace with himself:

On the streets of Seoul, rallies protesting the administration of South Korean President Lee Myung Bak are unending. Fierce verbal battles are also being waged in cyberspace.

And:

While most media radically fanned the anti-Japan sentiment over the Takeshima issue, demonstrators attacked a major newspaper when it urged calmer public attitude toward the United States.

The Asahi is sympathetic to the difficulties faced by President Lee. To help defuse regional tensions, they also implore the Koreans not to delay the upcoming Japan-China-South Korea summit in a fit of pique, and to work together to solve common issues.

They end the editorial with a reasonable request:

We urge the people and the government of South Korea to address these issues with practicality, grounded in the hard realities of today’s world.

But here again, the original Japanese is slightly different, and slightly stronger. This is what it said:

韓国の人々と政府には、何よりも現実を大事に実利に立った対応をしてほしい

That’s not so easy to translate into smooth English, and the Asahi translator did a nice job. But if you boil the sentiment down to its essence, here’s what the Asahi is really saying:

Get real.

If South Koreans find this to be too blunt, they should remember that the Asahi Shimbun is the Japanese newspaper that has consistently taken the most conciliatory and apologetic approach toward their country.

When the Asahi thinks you’re behaving strangely, it’s time to close your mouth, open your mind, and take a long, hard look in the mirror.

Thanks to Bender for sending along the Japanese language version of the editorial.