Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “Wanted: Real Samurai!”

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July 5, 2006

Wanted: Real Samurai!

Hatched by Sachi

Back in April, Japan faced a crisis over a little rock island which the Japanese call Takeshima: when Japan said they would send a survey ship to the area near Takeshima, staying within Japan's own "Exclusive Economical Zone" (EEZ), South Korea reacted with fury.

Since the 1950s, the Republic of Korea (RoK -- please don't confuse with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK, which is North Korea) has claimed ownership of Takeshima, which they call Dokdo, in defiance of the international community, which recognizes the island as belonging to Japan. Even so, the Japanese survey ship was not sailing into Takeshima's waters; its planned route kept it entirely within Japanese waters. Yet the RoK warned Japan that if the Japanese ship so much as left the port of Japan, the RoK would respond with military force.

As South Korean Coast Guard (Navy) ships were already interdicting Japanese fishing vessels near Takeshima and seizing and holding the crews (and had even killed one captain when a boat failed to surrender), Japan took this threat very seriously. The crisis was apparently "resolved" when Japan backed down and canceled the survey:

Japan and South Korea reached an agreement Saturday that says if Tokyo cancels a planned maritime survey near the Takeshima islets, Seoul will not propose naming seafloor topography around the disputed islets at an international conference in June.

I was furious at this so-called "compromise;" but my Japanese friends told me it was "a victory for diplomacy and for Japan." The RoK government -- which had refused to discuss the EEZ question for years -- finally agreed to "talk about it" in June 2006.

I was not convinced, and I predicted the talks would produce nothing.

They avoided a shooting war for now, but it's only a Band-Aid. The fact is that South Korea still surrounds Takeshima island [with warships] and considers itself legally and morally justified to threaten any Japanese ship -- fishing boat or scientific survey ship -- that comes near to "their" island. Besides, South Korea did not permanently give up renaming in Korean the seafloor topography around the disputed islets; they only posponed it.

However, being fair-minded, I decided to suspend judgment until the June talks. Well, June has come and gone; and yes, they did indeed "talk" about Takeshima. It turns out my prediction was wrong: the talks did not produce "nothing"... they produced something much worse.

South Korea did not formally propose Korean names for seafloor topography at the international maritime conference. Instead, they joined the topography naming committee, an obvious preparation for a future action.

For all the talk about the EEZ and Takeshima, all the RoK did was confirm their earlier rigid attitude: they announced that they would send their own survey ships whenever they felt like it; and (they threatened) if Japan tries to prevent it, South Korea will respond with naval force.

In fact, the survey ship just sailed yesterday, timed if not consciously then at least conveniently to coincide with North Korea's (DPRK) failed launch of the Taepodong 2 missile that hit the drink 40 seconds after launch. While Japan (and the rest of the world) watched the humiliating missile malfunction, the RoK sent their survey ship into Japanese waters.

A South Korean ship departed on Sunday on its way to survey waters near Seoul-held islands claimed by Japan, an official said, in a move that threatened to raise tensions with Tokyo.

South Korea announced last week its plan to conduct a survey of waters near islets known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese, despite Tokyo's protests. The survey was to start on Monday and last until July 14...

Yonhap news agency reported the South Korean coast guard planned to escort the ship on the survey, presumably to ward off any Japanese interference. The coast guard did not immediately answer phone calls to confirm the report.

So, what have we got here?

South Korea used the threat of military force to prevent a Japanese survey ship from entering Japan's own EEZ.

But now a South Korean ship provacatively sails freely, not just into the waters around Takeshima, or even just the Japanese EEZ, but into Japanese territory itself... and backed by military force.

No English-language papers are reporting this, but for those who can read Japanese, here is the Yomiuri Newspaper account:

調査船は約１４時間半にわたって日本の領海とＥＥＺ内を航行し、調査を行った。韓国調査船の日本のＥＥＺ内での活動は５日の１日限りと見られている。海保によると、韓国の調査船は同日午前６時４１分、竹島の西北西から日本のＥＥＺ内に入り、竹島方面に向かった。

The [South Korean] survey ship sailed the Japanese territorial waters and the Japanese EEZ for 14 and a half hours and surveyed the area. Evidently, the survey inside the Japanese EEZ is limited to [July] 5th. According to the Japanese Coast Guard [Navy], at 6:41 AM Monday, the Korean survey ship entered the Japanese EEZ from west-north-west of Takeshima then headed toward Takeshima.

調査船は竹島の北方を通過した後、航路を南に変更し、竹島の南西方向に向かって航行を続けた。海保の巡視船は、竹島南方で調査船が日本の領海を出るのを確認した後、南西方向に航行する調査船に並走した。

After passing Takeshima's north shore, the ship changed direction to south, then continued heading south-west. After confirming the survey ship had left Japanese waters, a Japanese Coast Guard ship accompanied the survey ship south-west.

So how exactly is this "a Japanese victory?"

Frankly, I do not believe that South Korea is really looking for a military conflict with Japan. Since the RoK is clearly in the wrong -- they're dictating not only what happens around Takeshima, whose ownership is not even in dispute, but around Japan itself -- South Korea certainly does not want to attract the attention of the international community. However, they are betting, quite reasonably, I'm sad to say, on continued Japanese inaction in the face of blatant provocation and intimidation.

And why should they not? Why should South Korea be afraid of the mighty Samurai spirit?

Japan has always backed down. Japan did nothing when Japanese fishermen were harassed, kidnapped, and even killed in their own ocean by South Korean Coast Guard vessels. Japan did nothing when their own survey ship was prevented from sailing in their own waters.

So why should anyone expect Japan to do anything when a South Korean survey ship invades Japanese territory, sailing waters that even the RoK recognizes as Japanese? (Or maybe they don't; maybe tomorrow, they'll give the Japanese mainland a new Korean name.)

I am disgusted. If Japan's response is another one of those calm, level-headed, adult attitudes of tolerance and forebearance, I'll be reaching for the Pepto-Bismol. If Japan has no Samurai spirit left to protect even a small rock from the RoK... then they don't even deserve to have a country.

Hatched by Sachi on this day, July 5, 2006, at the time of 11:07 PM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: Terrye

Maybe they don't think a rock is worth killing people over. I know there is a principle involved here, but there is also history. It might be that this all has something to do with the past.

The above hissed in response by: Terrye at July 6, 2006 4:04 AM

The following hissed in response by: Bill Faith

I linked from Old War Dogs

The above hissed in response by: Bill Faith at July 6, 2006 7:04 AM

The following hissed in response by: Infidel

Get the US the hell out of Korea and let the SK snotballs make their own way for once.

They've been kissing NK's ass for over 10 years now, so let them live with the consequences and the US can stop wiping their butt.

The above hissed in response by: Infidel at July 6, 2006 7:35 AM

The following hissed in response by: Dan Kauffman

The RoK government -- which had refused to discuss the EEZ question for years -- finally agreed to "talk about it

When someone decides they own something that is mine, what's to discuss?

Maybe they don't think a rock is worth killing people over. I know there is a principle involved here, but there is also history. It might be that this all has something to do with the past.
The above hissed in response by: Terrye at July 6, 2006 04:04 AM

You left out

when Japanese fishermen were harassed, kidnapped, and even killed in their own ocean

The essential purpose of the State is to protect the Body Politic, if it fails or chooses not to fulfill this function it has lost/forfeited legitimacy.

The above hissed in response by: Dan Kauffman at July 6, 2006 3:46 PM

The following hissed in response by: Trickish knave

I am stationed in Hawaii and routinely teach the sonarmen from both Japan and North Korea. I have done ops with both countries in our waters and I can say with great confidence that the Japanese are not weak just beause they are conceding to a small island.

They are biding thier time, waiting for ROK to really fuck up before they unleash the Samauri.

Past presidents did the same thing, in theory, when they did nothing in response to terrorist attacks on American soil. Does that mean we aren't deserving of our homeland? No, it jsut means we needed some time to calculate a response, and wait for a president with some sack to take care of business.

There is no lost love between ROK and JMSDF and the disdain is apparent when I have them as student. I have no doubt a Yuushio could take out whatever puddle jumper is circling around Takashima.

The above hissed in response by: Trickish knave at July 7, 2006 1:50 PM

The following hissed in response by: Sachi

Trickish knave

I have no doubt that JMSDF could take on the ROK navy. I have worked with those guys and have nothing but admiration for them.

But I cannot say the same about the Japanese politicians.

The problem is not the ability of the Japanese military personnel but the will of the elected government.

The above hissed in response by: Sachi at July 8, 2006 1:12 AM

The following hissed in response by: Doc-obiwan

Oh, I think the samurai spirit is still there...both its good and not so good aspects. I am privileged to travel to Japan about once a year to practice in an ancient martial art, and there is plenty of spirit there, even in the youngsters.

I suspect that just as the mindset and beliefs and attitudes of the majority of Americans are not necessarily reflected by the actions of our politicians, Japanese national attitudes are not necessarily reflected by their politicians.

My Japanese friends are outraged by this kind of thing.

Best,

--Doc

The above hissed in response by: Doc-obiwan at July 11, 2006 12:21 PM