South Korea's parliamentary speaker raises concerns about Japan's perception of history

South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik has raised concerns about Japan's perception of history.

In response to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent claim that Dokdo is Japanese territory historically and under international law, Woo said on social media that the Japanese government has expanded the so-called "territorial sovereignty exhibition hall," which asserts sovereignty over the Dokdo islets.

Since the opening of the hall in 2018, South Korea has continued to demand its closure, but Japan added an educational space to the hall recently in an apparent attempt to instill incorrect perceptions in future generations, he said.

"For a future-oriented and stable relationship between (South) Korea and Japan, three pillars must stand firm: facing the painful history squarely, deepening economic cooperation and cooperating as partners for peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia," Woo said.

He said that South Korea would host its own memorial ceremony for Korean victims of forced labor at the Sado Island Gold Mines this year, as Japan made no mention of "forced labor" in its memorial address.

South Korean historians say thousands of Koreans were forced by Imperial Japan into heavy labor at the gold mines, which were repurposed into facilities for manufacturing war-related materials during World War II, when the Korean Peninsula was under Japan's colonization.

Woo also voiced concerns about recent moves by Japan to revise its so-called peace constitution, unacceptable to not only South Korea but also all neighboring countries, as it shakes the foundation of peace order in East Asia by transforming Japan into a war-capable country.

South Korea has long protested against Japan's renewed territorial claims to the disputed islets lying halfway between the two countries, called Dokdo by South Korea and Takeshima by Japan.

South Korea restored its sovereignty over Dokdo after the Korean Peninsula's liberation from the 1910-1945 Japanese colonization. Seoul has since been in effective control of the islets, with a small police detachment deployed.

South Koreans see Japan's territorial claims to the islets as a denial of colonial history as Dokdo was the first territory that was forcibly occupied by Japan.