what's happening? 英語で国際政治を語る

" A 95 year-old man was beaten to death for saying, "Japan's rule was good for Korea", raising cries of, "The old man deserved to die" and "It was a blow for justice". "

95歳男「日本統治よかった」発言で殴り殺される　韓国ネットでは「死んで当然」「正義の審判だ」

When a 95 year-old man in South.Korea expressed his opinion that Japan's rule was good for Korea, another man who happened to be there got angry with him and beat him to death. The accused killer said in a deposition that he did it because of his sense of patriotism. S.Korean net users raised their voices strongly in his defense. Shock spread among the Japanese people who witnessed the awful incident. In the comments section of an article delivered on a portal website, a Korean net user says "The victim deserved to be killed " and the articles that defend the alleged killer rated very highly.

韓国で、95歳の韓国人男性が日本統治時代を「肯定」する発言をしたところ、居合わせた男の怒りを買い、殴られて死亡するという事件が起こった。「愛国心ゆえ」の犯行だと男は供述、韓国ネットユーザーなどからも擁護の声が上がる。あまりにも惨い事件に、日本では驚きが広がっている。

According to "Sekai Nippo", it happened on May ,2013, in the Citizen park of Chongmyo Shrine. The park is known as a sightseeing spot or a place where old folks who live near by can relax. They always enjoy a small talk or a game of go under the sun. The victim Mr. Parks(95) is one of these members. There, Wong, the defendant of the case, came, he drunk a lot and completely intoxicated. As the drunken man talked with Mr. Parks, and then his casual words," I thought experience of Japanese rule was acceptable." incurred Wong's wrath.

韓国紙「世界日報」によれば、事件が起こったのは2013年5月のことだ。ソウルにある宗廟市民公園が、その現場となった。同公園は観光スポットとして知られるとともに、近所に住む高齢者たちの憩いの場でもあり、多くの人々が青空の下、囲碁や世間話を楽しんでいる。被害者の朴さん（95）も、そうした輪に加わる一人だった。 そこにやってきたのが、黄被告（38）だ。彼は大量に飲酒しており、すっかり酩酊していた。この酔っ払いと朴さんが話すうち、その何気ない一言が黄被告の「逆鱗」に触れた。

"I think Japan's rule was good for Korea"
We don't know which part of Japanese colonial policy Mr. Parks evaluated, but his words could have carried a lot of weight because he was 95 years old, and was already 27 at the end of the war. So he must have seen the real conditions of Japanese rule over Korea, and the subsequent modern Korean history, with his own eyes. The defendant Wong, on the other hand, is 37 years old, a member of the generation that did not even store the Park Chung Hee regime in their memories.

「日本の植民地統治は、良いことだったとワシは思うよ」
朴さんがどのような点を「良い」と評価したのかはわからないが、なにしろ朴さんは95歳、終戦の時点でもすでに27歳だ。日本統治の実態、そしてその後の韓国現代史を目の当たりにしてきたわけで、その発言には重みがあっただろう。一方の黄被告は37歳、朴正煕時代すらほとんど記憶していない世代だ。

"What did you say?!" said the patriot Wong with heat. He gave a kick at Park, wrested his stick, and beet his head in an outburst of rage. Mr. Park got a serious injury to his skull bone and brain and was dead despite of medical treatment.
The arrested Wong pleaded that he was in a diminished capacity state due to intoxication, but he was sentenced to 5 years in prison on September 10, 2013.

「なんだと！」
しかし、「愛国者」である黄被告は朴さんの発言に激怒した。朴さんを蹴飛ばすと、その杖を奪い、怒りに任せて頭などを殴りまくった。朴さんは頭蓋骨や脳などに重傷を負い、治療を受けたものの死亡した。傷害致死罪で逮捕された黄被告は「泥酔しており心神耗弱状態だった」と主張したものの、9月10日に懲役5年の判決を受けた。

Surprisingly, many South Koreans have expressed support for Wong. From the first, the above-mentioned article of Sekai Nippo reported the case in a rather sympathetic tone to the defendant, saying, "His patriotism went too far due to alcohol"
Besides, on the web in S. Korea some people praise Park as a patriot. There are many comments made about this article, such as,
"In the first place, once the old cocker admired the Japanese imperialism, he should be considered a criminal and deserved to be murdered",
"Was the killer sentenced? no, actually rather worthy of a medal",
"He worked for justice",
"It is the judge who is a traitor"
As a matter of course, some Korean say " Is that a member of a constitutional state's behavior? Since when did Korea come to be such a country that allowed to kill people who held a different views of history from the consensus view?" But this kind of opinion is losing ground on the ｗeb in S. Korea where users who hold radical opinions are gathering momentum.

驚くことに、韓国内ではこの黄被告への擁護論が少なくない。上述の世界日報からして「酒の勢いで愛国心の度が過ぎた」とやや同情的だが、さらにネット上では、黄被告を「愛国青年」などと称し,
「そもそも日帝を称賛した時点でジジイは犯罪者だろ、殺されて当然」
「懲役刑？　むしろ勲章モノじゃねえか」
「正義の審判だ！」
「裁判官は売国奴！」
などと殺人を正当化するコメントが記事に多数付けられている。無論、「これが法治国家のやることか！　韓国はいつから歴史観が違えば人を殺していい国になったんだ？」と嘆く声もあるが、過激な意見の勢力が強い韓国ネット上では押され気味だ。

As regards to evaluation of the period of Japanese rule in S.Korea, in recent years, there has been a tendency to approve of it, partly because some researchers consider Japan's promotion of Korean modernization to be important. However, as soon as the S.Korean authorities gave official permission to the textbook that reflects such opinions on August 30, 2013, the public criticism grew, which triggered a huge argument involving the political world. This seems to be still a deep-seated taboo.

日本統治時代への評価をめぐっては、韓国では近年一部の研究者から近代化の進展などを重視し、部分的に評価する動きがある。しかしこうした意見が反映された教科書が8月30日に検定を通過したところ、国内世論が沸騰、政界も巻き込む大論争に発展するなど、今なおタブー視は根強い。

J-cast ニュース
http://www.j-cast.com/2013/09/13183859.html?p=all

original article of 'Sekai Nippo'
http://www.segye.com/content/html/2013/09/12/20130912002907.html


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I'll tell you a typical example of anti-Japanese education..
Some junior high school teachers in Seoul had their students draw pictures depicting each anti-Japanese sentiment. These pictures were displayed in the subway station in Inchon, Seoul several years ago. A Canadian male blogger happened to find the incident, wrote in his blog, and came to many people’s attention. I've heard that S.Korean children are provided anti-Japanese educations from three years old. Thus, the S.Korean government has instilled hostilities against Japan in their people.　

こんなこともあった。
数年前、ソウルのある中学校の教師は、生徒たちに反日の絵を描かせ、それをソウルのインチョンの地下鉄の駅構内に展示した。あるカナダのブロガーがこの事件を見つけて自分のブログに載せ、騒ぎとなった。韓国では3歳から反日教育が施されるという。このようにして、韓国政府は自国民に日本に対する敵意を植え付けてきたのだ。


                 *Some of the student's pictures*


      "Stomp on Japanese flag”      “Drop A-bomb on Japan!”




    ”Air raid against Japan”          “Burn Japanese flag”