Japan Press Weekly

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2024 August 14 - 20 [PEACE]

Japanese and S. Korean religious groups issue joint statement calling for protecting Japan’s pacifist Constitution

Akahata on August 14 reported that the Japan-Korea Reconciliation and Peace Platform (Japan-Korea Platform), consisting of civic groups and religious groups in the two countries, on the previous day published a joint statement calling for protecting the pacifist Constitution of Japan and opposing the Japan-U.S.-South Korea military alliance.

The Japan-Korea Platform was inaugurated in 2020 with the aim of overcoming tensions between the two governments through dialogue between Japanese and South Korean civil society organizations.

The platform’s statement pointed out that the United States intends to use South Korea and Japan as a combined military fortress which functions as deterrent against China and North Korea. The statement pointed out that for people living in Northeast Asia, this move will only increase the risk of turning their countries into frontline battle-fields, and stressed that such a move must be blocked.

The statement emphasized the importance of not tolerating the widespread distortions associated with historical revisionism in Japan. Regarding the issue of Japan’s postwar reparations, the statement stated that a key to dealing with the issue is to increase Japanese people’s support for the view that Japan’s annexation of the Korean Peninsula was illegal.