Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T05:13:48.620Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Explaining Divergent Responses to the North Korean Abductions Issue in Japan and South Korea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2010

Brad Williams  and
Erik Mobrand
Get access

Abstract

This article examines the divergent approaches pursued by Japan and South Korea in their attempts to resolve an issue that is related to a fundamental responsibility of sovereign states: the protection of citizens. The case considered here is North Korea's abduction of Japanese and South Korean nationals. In Japan, the abduction issue has taken center stage in the country's North Korea policy, whereas in South Korea, recent administrations have downplayed the issue—despite the fact that nearly 500 South Korean citizens remain detained in North Korea, compared to fewer than 20 known Japanese abductions. The authors find that the key to understanding the divergent responses lies in the politicization of specific, ostensibly apolitical demands for the state to fulfill its duty to protect citizens. In particular, the proximity of the abductions issue to key nationalist themes, which politicians in each country use to mobilize support, prevents the matter from being addressed in a neutral way.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 69 , Issue 2 , May 2010 , pp. 507 - 536
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

List of References

Shinzō, Abe. 2006. Utsukushii Kuni e [Toward a beautiful country]. Tokyo: Bunshun Shinsho.Google Scholar
Bennett, W. Lance. 1996. News: The Politics of Illusion. 3rd ed.White Plains, N.Y.: Longman.Google Scholar
Bridges, Brian. 1993. Japan and Korea in the 1990s: From Antagonism to Adjustment. Aldershot, U.K.: Edward Elgar.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chae-kyǒng, Ch'oe. 2003. “‘Nappukcha kajok moim’ taep'yo Ch'oi Sǒng-yong-ssi, Kǔmgangsan esǒ jesa ollida” [Nappukcha kajok moim representative Ch'oi Sǒng-yong performs ancestor worship on Mount Kǔmgang]. Wǒlgan chosǒn [Chosun monthly], October.Google Scholar
Daiki, Shibuichi. 2005. “The Yasukuni Shrine Dispute and the Politics of Identity in Japan: Why All the Fuss?” Asian Survey 45 (2): 197–215.Google Scholar
Kenkyūjo, Gendai Koria [Modern Korea Institute]. n.d. http://www.modern-korea.net/ [accessed February 14, 2007].Google Scholar
Tōru, Hasuike. 2003. “Otōto no Kihonteki Jinken o Ubatta Kitachōsen to ‘Heiwa Kenpō’” [North Korea and the peace constitution that robbed my younger brother of his basic human rights]. Paper presented at the Third Japan Conference Constitutional Forum, Kenpō: Shinkenpō no Seitei de Nihon Saisei o [Constitution: Enacting a new constitution for the rebirth of Japan], May 3. http://www.nipponkaigi.org/1200-kenpo/1240-02shinp0150503.html [accessed February 17, 2007].Google Scholar
Hughes, Christopher W. 1999. Japan's Economic Power and Security: Japan and North Korea. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ishin Seitō: Shimpū [Restoration Party: Fresh Breeze]. 2007. “Kitachōsen ni Ubareta Kazoku o Dakkan seyo” [Rescue family members stolen by North Korea]. April 6. http://sokuho.sblo.jp/article/3675442.html [accessed June 5, 2007].Google Scholar
Johnston, Eric. 2004. “The North Korean Abduction Issue and Its Effect on Japanese Domestic Politics.” Working Paper no. 101, Japan Policy Research Institute. http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp101.html [accessed January 8, 2007].Google Scholar
Kersten, Rikki. 1999. “Neo-Nationalism and the ‘Liberal School of History.’” Japan Forum 11 (2): 191–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chin-su, Kim. 2006. “2005 nyǒn kyǒul talgun ‘pukhan in'gwǒn kukje taehoe-Sǒul’” [International Summit on North Korean Human Rights–Seoul' heats up winter 2005]. Sindonga, January, 244–49.Google Scholar
Yong-hun, Kim. 2006. “4 kaeguk nappukp'ihaeja kajok tok'yosǒ taegyumo kukchehoeǔi” [Large-scale international meeting in Tokyo for families of North Korea kidnap victims from four countries]. The Daily NK, December 7.Google Scholar
Kingston, Jeff. 2004. Japan's Quiet Transformation: Social Change and Civil Society in the Twenty-First Century. New York: RoutledgeCurzon.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitachōsen Shuzaihan [North Korea News Team]. 2006. “‘Abe Shushō’ no Akiresuken” [Prime Minister Abe's Achilles heel]. Aera, September 18, 24.Google Scholar
Korean Institute for National Unification. 2000. The Unification Environment and Relations between South and North Korea: 1999–2000. Seoul: Korean Institute for National Unification.Google Scholar
Leheny, David. 2006. Think Global, Fear Local: Sex, Violence, and Anxiety in Contemporary Japan. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Soon-Hee, Lim, et al. 2006. White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea. Seoul: Korean Institute for National Unification.Google Scholar
Lynn, Hyung Gu. 2006. “Vicarious Traumas: Television and Public Opinion in Japan's North Korea Policy.” Pacific Affairs 79 (3): 482–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCormack, Gavan. 2005a. “Disputed Bones: Japan, North Korea and the ‘Nature’ Controversy.” Japan Focus, April 18. http://japanfocus.org/products/details/1949 [accessed January 19, 2007].Google Scholar
McCormack, Gavan. 2005b. “Disputed Bones: Japan–North Korea Clash.” Japan Focus, June 14. http://japanfocus.org/products/details/1949 [accessed January 19, 2007].Google Scholar
McCormack, Gavan, and Haruki, Wada. 2006. “Forever Stepping Back: The Strange Record of 15 Years of Negotiation between Japan and North Korea.” In The Future of U.S.–Korean Relations: The Imbalance of Power, ed. Feffer, John, 81–100. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
McVeigh, Brian J. 2001. “Postwar Japan's ‘Hard’ and ‘Soft’ Nationalism.” Working Paper no. 73, Japan Policy Research Institute. http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp73.html [accessed October 14, 2004].Google Scholar
Ministry of Unification. 2001a. Peace and Cooperation: White Paper on Korean Unification, 2001. Seoul: Ministry of Unification.Google Scholar
Ministry of Unification. 2001b. Toward an Era of Peace and Cooperation: Review of Relations between North and South Korea, June 15, 2000–June 15, 2001. Seoul: Ministry of Unification.Google Scholar
Ministry of Unification. 2008. 2008 nyǒn t'ongil pu ǒmmu pogo [Ministry of Unification operations report, 2008]. Seoul: Ministry of Unification. http://www.tongilnews.com/pds/pdsView.html?pdsNo=6307&pdsType=1&page=1 [accessed April 2, 2008].Google Scholar
Nathan, John. 2004. Japan Unbound: A Volatile Nation's Quest for Pride and Purpose. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Tsutomu, Nishioka. 2006. Kitachōsen no “Kaku” “Rachi” wa Kaiketsu dekiru [North Korea's “nukes” and “abductions” can be resolved]. Tokyo: PHP.Google Scholar
Onishi, Norimitsu. 2006. “Japan Rightists Fan Fury over North Korea Abductions.” New York Times, December 17.Google Scholar
Rengō Nyūsu. 2006. “‘Rabokusha Kazoku no Kai’ Che Daihyō Nihongawa Dantai o Hihan” [Chairman Ch'oe of the Association of Families Abducted and Detained in North Korea criticizes Japanese groups]. July 18. http://japanese.yonhapnews.co.kr/headline/2006/07/18/0200000000AJP20060718002200999.HTML [accessed February 23, 2008].Google Scholar
R-Net. n.d. “Burū Ribon Undō” [The Blue Ribbon Movement]. http://www.rnet.gr.jp/blueribon/index.htm [accessed May 17, 2007].Google Scholar
Katsumi, Satō. 1995. “Waga Tsūkon no Chōsen Hantō” [Our regrets on the Korean peninsula]. Seiron, September.Google Scholar
Shin, Gi-Wook, Freda, James, and Yi, Gihong. 1999. “The Politics of Ethnic Nationalism in Divided Korea.” Nations and Nationalism 5 (4): 465–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ushio, Shioda. 2006. “Abe Shinzō no Jitsuryoku” [Abe Shinzō's power]. Ronza, July, 128.Google Scholar
Key-young, Son. 2006. South Korean Engagement Policies and North Korea: Identities, Norms, and the Sunshine Policy. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mun-hong, Song. 2000. “Taebuk sangho chuyi” [The principle of reciprocity to the North]. Sindonga 493:152–63.Google Scholar
Steinhoff, Patricia. 2004. “Kidnapped Japanese in North Korea: The New Left Connection.” Journal of Japanese Studies 30 (1): 123–42.Google Scholar
Sukūkai [National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea]. 2005. “Heisei 17nendo Sukūkai Zenkoku Kyōgikai Kessan Hōkoku” [2005 financial report for the national association]. http://www.sukuukai.jp/imgH17.pdf [accessed February 12, 2007].Google Scholar
Sukūkai [National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea]. 2007. “Aratana Undō Hōshinan o Kettei” [Deciding a new policy for the movement]. Sukūkai Zenkoku Kyōgikai Nyūsu, March 11.Google Scholar
Sukūkai [National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea]. 2008. “Heisei 20nendo Sukūkai Zenkoku Kyōgikai Kessan Hōkoku” [2008 financial report for the national association]. http://www.sukuukai.jp/imgH20.pdf [accessed December 15, 2009].Google Scholar
Nobuyoshi, Takashima. 2003. “Kazokukai o Yūdō suru ‘Sukūkai’ to ‘Tsukurukai’” [“Sukūkai” and “Tsukurukai” are guiding the families' association]. Shūkan Kinyōbi, January 24, 21.Google Scholar
Katsuyuki, Yakushiji. 2003. Gaimushō: Gaikōryoku Kyōka e no Michi [The Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The path to strengthening diplomatic power]. Tokyo: Iwanami Shinsho.Google Scholar
Kŭm-sun, Yi. 2004. “In'gwŏnsaan ŭrosŏ ŭi nappukcha munje” [The problem of those kidnapped by North Korea as a human rights issue]. 2000 259 (11): 50–57.Google Scholar
Mi-ryang, Yun. 2004. “Nappukcha kwalyŏn taebukhyŏpsang ŭi kyŏnggwa wa sŏnggwa” [Progress and results on cooperation with the North regarding those kidnapped by North Korea]. 2000 258 (10): 34–39.Google Scholar

Newspapers

Agence France Press (Seoul)

Chosǒn ilbo

Han'gyǒrye

International Herald Tribune

Korea Times

Kyǒnghyang sinmun

Mainichi Shimbun

Munhwa ilbo

Nihon Keizai Shimbun

Niigata Nippō

OhmyNews

Sankei Shimbun

Segye ilbo

Yomiuri Shimbun

Yonhap News Agency