September 3, 2019

Right-wing Dietmember Maruyama Hodaka (Lower House), whose “war against Russia” gaffe recently evoked much controversy, on August 31 in his tweet asserted that there is no way other than waging war to retake the disputed Takeshima Island (called Dokdo in South Korean) in the Sea of Japan.

Maruyama in May, regarding the Japan-Russia territorial dispute, remarked that to resort to war is the only alternative for Japan to recapture the Russia-held islands off the coast of Hokkaido. Later, he was driven into apologizing for making this controversial remark and withdrew it. The House of Representatives at that time asserted that Maruyama’s remark goes against the constitutional principle of pacifism and unanimously adopted a resolution condemning him as being unqualified for his post.

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on September 2 at a press conference in the Diet building said, “Maruyama repeatedly makes remarks suggesting war as a means to settle territorial disputes. He in unacceptable as a parliamentarian and should resign.”

Koike pointed out that Maruyama shows no sign of remorse over the fact that the Lower House issued a general condemnation of his remark in May, and stressed that the lawmaker’s most recent remark regarding the Takeshima dispute made a mockery of the May resolution. Koike said, “It is necessary for all political parties to force Maruyama to resign. The JCP will call on them to discuss this matter.”

Maruyama left the rightist Nippon Ishin no Kai party after the “war against Russia” remark scandal and now belongs to the upstart political party called “the Party to Protect the People from NHK (N-koku)”.

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At the press conference, asked for a comment about the landing of South Korean parliamentarians on the Takeshima Islands, Koike said, “It is the Abe government that has made Japan-South Korea relations worse. However, the South Korean lawmakers’ act of visiting the disputed islands intensifies tensions between the two nations and thus I oppose this act.”

Koike added, “The territorial issue should be resolved through diplomatic negotiations in a cool-headed manner based on historical facts and international law.”

Past related articles:
> Broadcasters' group criticizes anti-NHK political party [August 17, 2019]
> Right-wing Dietmember suggesting war over Russian-held territory should resign [May 15, 2019]