PRESIDENT Roh of South Korea yesterday demanded that Japan follow the example of Germany and make full atonement for its wartime aggression, a statement that will add to rising tensions between the Asian neighbours.

In a speech marking the anniversary of a Korean uprising against the Japanese, Mr Roh urged the former colonial power “to find out the truth about their past, reflect on it and make a genuine apology as well as reparations if necessary, and then become reconciled”.

He made an explicit comparison between Stalinist North Korea’s abduction of 13 Japanese in the 1970s and 1980s and the forced relocation of Korean labourers and sex slaves by Japan. Mr Roh’s words caused unease in Tokyo and cast a shadow over what was to be a year of bridge-building between Seoul and Tokyo. Japanese diplomats said yesterday that they were struggling to establish the “true intention” behind the President’s words.

It was an emotional day for Koreans yesterday, the 86th anniversary of the March 1st Independence Movement, a nationalist uprising ruthlessly suppressed by the Japanese. Mr Roh’s choice of venue was highly charged — a shrine to Yu Gwan Sun, a 16-year-old patriot tortured and killed for her part in the movement.

“To further develop relations between the two of us, sincere efforts are needed on the part of the Government and people of Japan,” Mr Roh said. “I hope that Japan . . . will take the initiative in removing the deep-seated emotional hurdle between the two neighbours and heal the scar.”

Japan and Korea may be important trade partners, and their peoples may visit one another’s country in their millions for tourism and business, but the colonial period still casts a long shadow. And several anniversaries make this year even more fraught.

On August 15 it will be 60 years since Japan’s wartime defeat and Korea’s liberation as an independent country. But it is also the 100th anniversary of the Second Japan-Korea Agreement by which Seoul became Tokyo’s protectorate, before its annexation four years later.

It is 40 years since Japan and Korea formally settled their differences and resumed diplomatic relations, and 2005 had been designated Korea-Japan Friendship Year. But the celebration of amity has got off to an extremely unfriendly start.

After the release of documents relating to the 1965 negotiations, there were complaints in the Korean media that the government of the time agreed too readily to drop claims for Japanese compensation in return for $800 million in grants and loans. Last week Japan’s ambassador to Seoul caused outrage by repeating Tokyo’s claim to an isolated islet occupied by Korean police and known as Tokto in Korea and Takeshima in Japan.

Korean diplomats emphasised last night that Mr Roh was not reneging on the 1965 agreement — but his words implied a moral pressure on Japan to demonstrate its regret with money as well as gestures.

“I fully understand the indignation of Japan stemming from its citizens being kidnapped,” he said. “But . . . I hope that Japan understands the indignation of Korean people who suffered pain countless times as forced draftees and ‘comfort women’ during the 36 years of its imperial rule. From the standpoint of individuals who suffered under Japanese rule, the Korean Government’s dropping of compensation claims will be hard to understand.” In the past five years the enmity between the two countries has eased. Korea has dropped its former ban on Japanese cultural imports, from books, comics and films to classical orchestras. Japan, meanwhile, has been experiencing a “Korea boom”, with intense consumer interest in Korean food, South Korean holidays and popular culture.

A romantic drama series called Winter Sonata has been shown repeatedly on Japanese television and Bae Yong Joon, its young male star, is a heart-throb in Japan.

Japanese diplomats say that they have gone a long way towards meeting the demands of their former Asian colonies to make amends for the war. On the 50th anniversary of the surrender in 1995, the Government offered an unambiguous apology which has been regularly repeated, and it has been a generous provider of aid throughout Asia.

Yet Japan has never achieved the trust and forgiveness granted to its former Axis allies in Europe. “Germany did all it could,” Mr Roh said. “As a result it is treated very well. The Germans delved into their past, made apology and made reparations — and through their decisive moral action, they were able to emerge as the leader of integrated Europe.”

BRUTAL RULE

1592 and 1597: Toyotomi Hideyoshi invades Korea, bringing back 60,000 prisoners, books, printing equipment — and ears and noses of defeated foes

1875: Japan forces Korea to open its ports to Japanese trade without customs duties

1905: Korea yields control over foreign affairs to Japan

1910: Korea is annexed by Japan

1937-1945: Shinto religion and worship of Japanese Emperor enforced in Korea

1990: Emperor Akihito expresses “deep regret” for “suffering” of Koreans under Japanese rule

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