SDHF Newsletter No.256 Gunkanjima(Battleship) No.6

Gunkanjima (Battleship Island): A World Heritage Site Soiled by Korea
–Another distortion of history, akin to the “comfort women”
By Matsuki Kunitoshi
Series No.6: Part 3: Chapter 9, 10

November 1, 2019

The film Gunkanjima shows how strongly Koreans hate Japan. However, the Korean enmity against Japanese is not at all inherent or based on a long history. It was mostly created after WW II. Part 3 shows how hatred against Japan was formed and the ongoing anti-Japan propaganda campaign.
Chapter 9 is titled ‘Korean history distorted after World War II.’
The currently strong, anti-Japan feeling was fostered with Syngman Rhee’s campaign of historical distortion. In order to justify his legitimacy as President of Republic of Korea, he distorted history as follows:

1. Japan destroyed the Joseon Dynasty, colonized and brutally ruled Korea.
2. Independence fighters who went into exile in Shanghai established an interim government of the Korean Republic, organized an “Army of Restoration,” fought against Japan as a member of the Allied Forces, and contributed to relieving the suffering of the Korean people under Japanese rule.
3. It was Syngman Rhee’s administration that succeeded the interim government of the Republic of Korea.

Japan “annexed” Korea based on an official treaty and not by colonialism. Therefore, Korean people were endowed with nearly the same rights as Japanese people. Park Chun-gum was elected as a member to the House of Representative, from the 4th district of Tokyo, in 1932 and 1937.
The Army of Restoration was a small group and was not recognized as member of Allied force, never participating in actual fighting. The interim government of the Korean Republic was not recognized by the US occupation force in Korea.
Thus, Syngman Rhee revised history, fabricating fantastic Japanese atrocities, one after another, to legitimize his administration and make it appear worthy of the peoples’ support.
Chapter 10 is titled ‘Anti-Japanese facilities that instigate hatred toward Japan.’
This chapter describes the horrifying facts of anti-Japanese education as implemented Korea and how anti-Japanese propaganda is disseminated, which the author confirmed through an on-the-scene investigation.
Korea’s Independence Hall is a typical example. There are scenes depicting so-called freedom fighters being tortured by animated wax mannequins. In one scene, a woman has her hands tied and a club strikes between her legs. The sounds of cracking bones and the woman’s screams fill the room. This torture is called churi, which was used during the Joseon Dynasty. During Japan’s rule, however, the Korean Governor-General’s Office prohibited the use of such cruel torture. At the comfort women corner, georamas show women being forcibly pulled onto a truck. This is sheer fabrication based on Yoshida Seiji’s fable, which has been verified as completely untrue. These kinds of facilities, with government support, exist all over Korea. The author shows many cases, with photos he took.

URL: https://www.sdh-fact.com/book-article/1432/
　 PDF:　https://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Gunkanjima5.pdf

Questions are welcome.

MOTEKI Hiromichi, Acting Chairman
for KASE Hideaki, Chairman
Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact