The Video that the Japanese Department of Foreign Affairs released has become a hot topic in East Asia.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
According to Japanese traditions, being humble and modest is regarded as a virtue, and praising themselves or talking about their own achievements is something they are not familiar with and even feel uncomfortable about. Recently, however, the Japanese people and government have come to the realization the hard way that this virtue is not fully understood by some in the international community which now demands the Japanese government produce and disseminate factual informative videos.
The video titled “Nation Building in the Post War Era: Japan as a Reliable Partner”has upset some Koreans who deny the extensive support Japan gave in their economic development during the post war period.
For example, if you read the Wikipedia article "Miracleon the Han River" which reflects Korean understanding of the subject, there is no mention at all of the contribution made by Japan to South Korea's post war economic achievements.
On the contrary, the Japanese government spent over $ 600 billion on building infrastructure on the Korean Peninsula during the annexation era (more than they invested in Japan at the time ) and since 1965 they have also provided substantial financial and technical aid support. Some of the contributions are as follows:
*In 1965, the "Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea" was signed and Japan provided $300 million in grants, $200 million in loan aid up to the end of 1975 (approx.1.6 times of South Korea's national budget, equivalent to $3.6 trillion in today's value). However, the total sum of financial support provided between 1965 and 2001, amounted to a staggering 3.8 times what was originally agreed to in the agreement above.
*In 1997 when South Korea was caught up in the Asian Currency Crisis, Japan provided $10 billion of financial support through an international support framework and in additional gave a further $8.35 billion.
*$20 billion in 2006 as an emergency relief fund when the Korean Won became overvalued.
*¥30 billion loan for the construction of the World Cup Football Stadium in 2002.
(Approx. $ 107 billion of these loans have until this day, still not been repaid to Japan.)
Please watch the video here;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fo6Zz_w0WE
Related videos:
Japan And Korea In Post-War Era; Economic Aid, ODA, Technology Licensing, Compensation and Apologies