The South Korean Boycotting of Japanese Goods, and the Important Lesson it holds

By Om Paithankar

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In 2019, news of a trade dispute and organized boycotts surfaced in news media outlets across the globe. The altercation was between Japan and South Korea, who boast the world’s third and twelfth largest economies. Although to most of us this may seem like a very recent turn of events, the roots of this dissension trace back to over a hundred years ago — to the legacy and pain surrounding Japan's occupation of the Korean Peninsula before the Second World War. The history of this pain has played a major part in the lives of citizens from both of these nations today.

Whether we recognize it or not, this dispute has forced us to determine what atrocities committed by a nation many years in the past justify repercussions today and to what extent should we set consequences for nations like Japan. In the case of Japan and South Korea, it is acceptable and essential for the South Koreans to boycott trade and protest through other demonstrations, but only to a certain extent. If nothing else, South Koreans would like to see Japan face the truth of their past actions and do something substantial to show that they recognize and apologize for what they did during the early and mid-twentieth century.

From 1910 to 1945, the Korean peninsula was occupied by Japan. During this period, Japan exerted its power over South Koreans through the use of brutal forced labor that took terrible physical tolls on many South Koreans. In the 1930s, Japan flew tens of thousands of South Korean women, called “comfort women,” to military brothels in Japan in which they were forced to service Japanese soldiers and were physically abused. These horrific events still play a large part in the life of South Koreans and how they view their history and culture.

Because of these events, there have always been high tensions between these two countries. However, these stories have recently resurfaced due to the highest court in South Korea ordering Japanese firms to compensate forced laborers in 2018. Some of these firms are multi-billion dollar global corporations whose rise to power was undoubtedly aided by the use of forced labor. These corporations, such as Mitsubishi Heavy, have refused to comply with the South Korean court order. Other than sending its apologies to South Korea, the Japanese government has not taken any concrete steps to mandate Japanese firms that utilized forced labor to compensate South Koreans, nor has it compensated the few dozen surviving comfort women.

Japan's inability to adequately express regret has infuriated South Koreans as they find these events to be an important part of their history that must be thoroughly acknowledged by the perpetrator. In consequence, South Koreans feel they deserve compensation. They have been boycotting Japanese goods, and they have been found destroying Japanese motor vehicles and other imported goods. Many anti-Japanese demonstrations took place in South Korea through 2018, 2019, and continue to take place today. While the concept of protests and demonstrations for a necessary compensation is a positive one, many anti-Japanese demonstrations have caused the situation to descend into utter chaos. People can be found smashing the glass of Japanese cars on the streets of Seoul and doing other reckless activities to get their point across. More importantly, the trade war and boycotts could be devastating to the world economy and take many years to recover from if they continue in the same manner.

However, in the case of Japan and South Korea, Japan insulted South Korea by treating its people, some of whom still live and share those stories, the way they did. This left scars in not only the people but the pride of South Korea that will likely take generations to heal. The people of South Korea will indubitably be hateful towards Japan until those scars heal.

Both sides have also revealed that under certain circumstances, a country cannot always expect to be free from handling their past misdeeds concerning other countries. South Koreans should be doing what they can within reason to receive Japanese compensation. The crimes of Japan only took place less than a century ago, making it a very prevalent issue of which South Koreans will inevitably feel pain.

Many media outlets will simplify this dispute to be composed of South Koreans flinging globs of fermented foods at Japanese cars. However, it is of utmost importance in the sense that this case study can teach us how we could perhaps more constructively handle situations similar to it in the future. It is no secret that allies of the United States, and the U.S. itself, have been harsh to other countries. In the twentieth century, Great Britain, France, and other European countries colonized most of Africa, and Great Britain colonized India. During that time, they often treated the people of their colonies with brutal violence. When the colonizers finally left, the people of the countries found their homelands in shambles and had to clean up the mess themselves. However, most Americans today view those countries to be benevolent and offering help to the rest of the world.

This article is in no way at all intending to suggest that the United States and these European nations must do more to compensate for their wrongdoings. Some of them already have done so in many ways, but we must take time to recognize when and how countries have mistreated other peoples and how it affects the lives of the mistreated today. Then, we must figure out how to work to help a country that was once being harshly treated by us to help heal the scars that we left.

While some of the anti-Japanese demonstrations may be extreme and often inexcusable, we must empathize with the South Koreans to truly understand the pain they feel and why they so terribly yearn for compensation. We can only hope that the Japanese government will come to accept the ruling of the high South Korean court, but right now, the best thing that we can do is to learn from this bitter quarrel to help prevent the occurrence of such cases in the future.