일본 사람들이 어쩌다가 이렇게 여기저기에서 불쌍하게 한국사람들에게 뚜드려 맏는지?

특히 Youtube video를 보면, It's full of animosity against Japanese.

Anyway, it shows how much we hate each other.

I guess Shinzo Abe's having run 8-year prime minister has created the increasing animosity by Koreans.

Can it be reversible?

Now, Shinzo Abe is gone. Shall we get friendlier and work together for peace in East Asia?

We got to be together against CCP.

NK, SK, and Japan have to work together to defend ourselves against Red China and it's CCP.

한국사람들은 일본사람들을 미워한다. 아니 복수심에 불타고 있다. 

그리고 무시한다. 아무리 일본이 한국보다 강한나라가 되어도 열등

의식이 없고 우월감을 가진다. 

한국사람들은 모든 아시안들이 그렇듯이 서양사람들에 대한 열등의식 

을 가지고 있다. 특히 미국에 대한 열등의식은 일본에 대한 우월감에 

비추어 보면 비겁할 정도이다. 

한국사람들은 아예 중국은 모른다. 오랫동안 중국을 아는 것은 죄스러운 

일이었다. 왜냐면 공산국가 였기 때문이었다. 

정치인들은 이러한 국민감정을 이용하고 국민은 이러한 국민감정을 바탕으로  

투표에 임한다. 현정부는 국민의 일본에 대한 감정을 최대한으로 이용하는 

세력이다. 한국이 국제무대에서 국익을 제대로 챙기려면 한국국민이 좀더 

자주독립적인 감정을 가져야 한다. 이것은 한국 엘리트들의 중차대한 임무이다. 

I have quite mixed feelings to perceive this anti-Japanese sentiment among Koreans since I no longer keep my same resentment to Japanese like all other Koreans. Indeed, I used to be quite anti-Japanese like all other friends not only by the brainwash through the elementary school education but also my personal cause involved to my father 이담 as well as my mother 조애영, who were such patriots as the leader of their school 중앙 고보 and 배화여고 to participate 광주 학생 독립 운동.

Indeed, my father was beaten up so badly by Japanese police during Gwangju Student Independence Movement (광주 학생 독립 운동) so that his nose remained crooked to represent his anti-Japanese sentiments. Further, he was kicked out from the college at Kyoto soon after he was found as a member of the Marx-Lenin movement organized among young Korean intellectuals and remained as a 요시찰 under Japanese surveillance and I still recall Japanese 형사 made a regular weekly visit to our house to check his condition till WWII is ended – I believe my father 이담 and lawyer 조평재 were the only two of ML party members remained in South Korea after the WWII while all the rest went up to North Korea-.

So, naturally, I was so much against Japanese throughout my childhood and refused to buy any Japanese products for many decades whenever possible and remained to be willing to pay double as long as it is not a Japanese product. Canon or Nikon camera was one example I refused to buy since it is made by the Japanese and paid double to buy the German-made Contax camera.

But ironically, this prejudice was completely changed by one Japanese I encountered through my MCV days. The successor of the research project I carried on during my fellowship at Richmond was one Japanese from Keio Univ, Akira Hasegawa. He and his wife, Yoshiko became our lifetime friends and through them, I learned about the new/our generation in Japan and so embarrassed with my wrong prejudice to Japan. Two more fellows to Richmond after Akira were also from Japan and they changed my perception to Japan 100% and stopped calling Japanese as 왜놈!

Besides, my tenure in Seoul for 10 years gave me more opportunity to me to learn genuine Japanese life and culture and I started to admire their mentality, way of thinking, and public perception/orders which are way advanced than Koreans. For example, Koreans try to keep the inside of their house ignoring how dirty the outside of the house would be while the Japanese are the opposite.

Indeed, through the first visit/stay at Kyoto – I learned the technical/practical issues involved to ‘living related’ liver transplant from the Kyoto U team who imported the idea from the Chicago group but further advanced with no risk of medicolegal liability we had in the U.S.-, I noticed such clean vicinity of the ordinary houses, keeping the garbage bags inside of the house away from the ally/street so that I felt so sore/jealous to their advanced public concept.

Japanese are much more different from Koreans! They are ‘civilized’ people almost on the same level of German not only on the public order but the social structure as well - Koreans are getting better with no doubt- although I never understand their shamanism through such stupid Shintoism. Through the numerous visits to Japan while in Korea, I once again confirmed how terribly wrong I was with the wrong prejudice to Japan.

Such prejudice/animosity to Japanese by Koreans are partly involved to 'jealousy'- 사촌땅사면 배아프다- embedded in Korean gene, in my opinion, and it is simply stupid to look down Japanese because Japan is way ahead of Korea  I witnessed with my two eyes. Japanese could look down Korean but no way Korean could look down/beat the Japanese that easily. Japanese are better than Korean in many aspects, as I know of, no matter what Koreans should claim so far up to the Year 2020. No sir!

Indeed, I was so embarrassed with such well-known animosity between Korean and Japanese throughout the world when my senior colleague at USUHS, Normal Rich who jokingly teased me over the dinner, saying ' BB is no longer Korean by all means!  He chose Japanese paper as the best' based on my decision as the head judge to select one scientific paper presented by a Japanese lady physician as the best during the world congress of IUA (International Union of Angiology) organized by Greek colleagues at Athens many years ago. Indeed, the quality of academic works among Japanese colleagues is generally way better than those by Korean colleagues- I still serve as a member of the editorial group and/or reviewer for the official journals of both countries/societies as well to see the quality differences!- I painfully admit.

God bless Korea!

BB Lee

Doc, I am kind of heart-broken since you do not hate the Japanese. How that happened?

I hope you had not been cheated by the Japanese you met in the US. ㅎ, ㅎ, ㅎ.

In my time, I was brain-washed to hate the Japanese since I was a fetus.

I mean it's such a sticking thing in my mind that I could not get rid of it,

even at my age with world-wide inter-racial experiences in my bag.

Some of us get very impressed by the courteous behavior of the Japanese,

but I think it's more of their hypocritic life-style. In truth, they may not be what they appear.

However, in the inter-national relationship, we shall be partners. Well. I don't know for sure.

Believe me, Steve, I am serious! Regretfully, we, Koreans are wrong to hate only Japanese. Indeed, no one hates Chinese while China gave more damage to Korea for a thousand years as the de facto ruler especially through the last 500 years of the Yi Dynasty. Japan occupied only 36 years after all!

Nevertheless, Japan is ahead of Korea in many aspects Koreans should admit whether they like it or not!

Remember we used to imitate Japanese to speak English in Japanese way - 조지해수비구바구온히수바구/George has a big bag on his back - to make fun of it? No more! The new generation of Japanese speaks English way better than Korean despite Koreans spend tons of money for early education of English from the kindergarten, which I can't understand!

These days I spend almost equal time with young scientists/students wherever I go/get invited especially to China and Japan, to teach how to prepare the presentation and how to answer the questions in particular besides how to write the scientific papers. So I know too well how much the Japanese have improved themselves through the decades! But young Koreans' English, in general, is so poor quality these days to alarm me through the international competition despite they all now have an ample chance to learn proper English than us.

BB Lee

Japanese humiliated Koreans twice in history. In 1592, the Japanese

ran over Korea for 7 years. Japan ruled Korea for 35 years from 1910 

to 1945. What was the problem? Ironically Koreans looked down 

Japanese even after 1598 when 임진 전쟁 was over. The Japanese-Korean 

war had been called as 임진왜란. It meant Japanese is 왜구. They are

pirates who do not have a country like Japan. Koreans think 왜구s are

ugly and small. For 100 years before 1952, Japan was in an internal war. 
다이묘s who are like 봉건 영주 or governors in the US fought each other

for the hegemony of entire Japan. This era was called as 센코꾸 시대.

During that time, 왜구(pirates) was proliferated throughout Japan, Korea,

and China. When 도요토미 히데요시 united entire Japan and he

became military might in Asia,  Chosen did not know and/or want to 

know what went on in Japan right up to the invasion in 1592. 
 

유성룡 who carried out 임진왜란 with 명 generals wrote 징비록 not to repeat 

same mistakes. But no one looked at it after the Japanese went back to Japan.

But 징비록 became the best seller in Japan in the 17th century. 
 

After 임진전쟁, 도쿠가와 이에야스(덕천가강) took over. He opened up 에도 막부 시대.

도요토미 히대요시(풍신수길) wanted to conquer Korea and China.

He drove the Japanese to war all the time. But 이에야스 did not want to engage 

in war and maintain friendly relationships with Korea and China. He started 

to exchange envoys with Chosen. Japan under his rule became prosperous and 

Japanese living standards far exceeded Korea during the 18th century. 
 

During the 순조 era, the early 19th century, the envoys from Chosen were not well treated 

any more because they looked so shabby through Japanese eyes. And the exchange 

of envoys ended. The envoys from Chosen did not want to learn from Japan even 

though the Japanese were much better off than them. 
 

The neglect and arrogance of Chosen toward Japan played some role leading to

Japanese occupation. If 토요토미 히데요시 were to be the example of imperial Japan, 

도쿠가와 이에야스 is like modern-day Japan. But Koreans must watch out right-wing Japanese

who are trying to become like 도요토미 히데요시.

If Koreans are asked, "what is 독립문 for?". A lot of them will answer "independence 

from Japan". They do not know it was erected for "independence from China".

Why 한글 was not used as the official alphabet in Chosen until the very end of 

dynasty when Chinese influence(rule?) was over? No Korean knows exactly 

why because it was not studied thoroughly or even raised the question. Koreans 

do not want to know how seriously China involved in internal affairs in Chosen

because it hurts their pride. 

Precisely, Dr. Ohn! Your summary on the era of Tokugawa Ieyasu (德川幕府) as the founder and first shogun of Japanese history tells exactly how Korea/Yi Dynasty screwed up! It is the Koreans' fault to have succumbed to repeated invasions by the Japanese and shouldn't blame the Japanese. That is human history, no more no less!

So, I don't understand how the hell Koreans dare to look down Japanese? Only because of a few computer chips they stole from Japan to make them rich? They are simply stupid, no way! 

I don't know much about other than the medicine but I know clearly on the medical issue belonging to Korea and Japan. Oddly, through Korean War, South Korea had such a unique opportunity to make a direct import of American medicine with no more filtering through Japan so that some of the clinical medicine might be ahead of Japan but Japan has such solid background on the basic as well as research medicine inherited from Germany.

How do I know? I brought five vascular specialty projects from the States to Samsung as a joint project with Johns Hopkins and two of them were Asian unique vasculitis liken Takayasu's Arteritis and also Budd-Chiari Syndrome with different etiopathogenesis. Through these two unique projects, I understood clearly how much Japan contributed to the medical field once again and still makes tremendous lead. 

Because of the old structure/system they did not remove but modified, their overall appearance looks chaotic - Korea did not have any so that it was rather easy to build as a new system!- but actually they are way ahead of Korea as long as the medical field I know is concerned. 

The problem I see is Japanese know what they talk about and where they stand but Koreans? 돈 몇푼 벌더니 하늘이 돈짝 만 해 보여?

All the best to Koreans!

BB Lee

Dr. Lee, your family history amazes me all the time!

By any chance, do you know 김준연? He was a member of ML 파

and worked for 동아일보 with 김성수, 송진우.

Do I know 김준연? By all means, yes I do know more about him than anyone in our generation!!!  Like so many young intellectuals among Koreans in those days under Japanese ruling, he also joined to ML party to get the help for the independence movement, only available from the Soviet Comintern/communists without knowing much about the price they have to pay later.

He had the guts to stand up so many times throughout his career as a politician. He is quite a man of principle to fight with no fear. Indeed he was the one who raised the question on 박정희 as a former communist openly after the coup to surprise many I am sure many of you also remember!

I have tons of stories about him I heard from my father and uncles for so many times!

Yes, he was once a follower of the communism like my father but became one of few who was converted from the proletarian communism to become an anticommunist to remaining in South Korea!

BB Lee

Reading your comments, I thought you knew him. 
Your storytelling made the things I read in the book and the internet 

come to alive. 조선총독부 contacted 송진우 first to take over the government 

after they confirmed Japanese defeat. But 송진우 turned down by referring it 

to the Provisional government. The next person they asked was 김준연.

He turned it down with the same reason as 송. Then they went to 여운형. 

It's time to express my opinion on Japanese. 

I shall never forgive Imperial Japanese fanatics who had prevailed until the glorious day 

of Japanese Unconditional Surrender to General MacArthur aboard the USS Missouri on August 15, 1945.

But how many years have passed since then? Current Japanese did not commit

Filipinos crimes to Koreans, Chinese, Filipinos, and so on 

though they are the very descendants of those monstrous 왜놈들. 

It is overdue for us to reconcile with them unconditionally. 

If we remain anti-Japanese forever, there will be no peace in the Korean-Japanese regions of North-East Asia.

If we don't forgive them, there will be many people in the world who will not forgive Koreans 

including Vietnamese, Filipinos, and others. 

Many Koreans have no idea about Koreans' atrocities committed against helpless Filipinos during 

Japanese occupation at the beginning of World War 2.

I had been told by a Pathologist from Phillippine, who said Koreans under Japanese soldiers were 

the worst creatures, who committed all kinds of cruel tortures and murders of innocent Filipinos

just to please the Japanese superiors while the Japanese themselves were not so bad!

What shameful acts have they committed to other human beings! I said to her that if that's true, 

"I truly apologize to Filipinos and ask for their forgiveness for one of Koreans." 

I feel that we should be humble and open-minded.

I thought you might have a family connection with 김준연, Dr. Ohn!

Anyhow, he was quite controversial, outgoing, and also very vocal as I recall based on what I overheard when my father and his brothers talked over the dinner mostly after the 제사 at my big uncle’s house. But he certainly became one of the frequent topics for them at that time.

He was, indeed, one of the leading politicians to organize(?) 한민당 with 송진우 and김성수 but made a courageous separation from 한민당 later giving fair supports to 이승만 as well. So he is NOT a communist at all.

BB Lee

홍사익  洪 思翊
생애	1889년 3월 4일 ~ 1946년 9월 26일 (57세)
출생지	조선 경기도 안성군 소촌면 내소촌
사망지	필리핀 마닐라 포로수용소
국적	일본
본관	남양(南陽)
부모	홍이유(부)
배우자	조숙원(사별), 이청영(재혼)
자녀	홍국선(장남)  홍현선(차남)  홍달선(삼남)
친척	홍사용(형)
복무	대한제국 육군 일본 제국 육군
복무 기간	1909년 ~ 1910년 1914년 5월 28일 ~ 1946년 9월 26일
최종 계급	대한제국 육군 참위 일본군:  중장(中将)
근무	도쿄 제1사단 제1연대 일본군 보병 제1연대 중대장 관동군 사령부 참모부 제3과
지휘	일본군 보병 제3연대 대대장 일본군 보병 제108여단 여단장  일본 남방군 총사령부 병참총감
주요 참전	중일 전쟁, 제2차 세계 대전, 태평양 전쟁

He was a Korean Japanese general who was the commander of a Japanese prison camp in 

Philippine. He was executed as a war criminal after Japanese surrender.  During the Pacific 

war, Japan recruited many Koreans to become soldiers of the Japanese imperial army. But 

they did not put them on combat duty because many ran away from them to the Chinese army.

So, Many Korean Japanese officers and soldiers carried out duties in the prison camp in 

Southeast Asia. 

In the prison camp in the Philippine, many American citizens were withheld. They were living

in Philippine that was an American colony when the Japanese defeated Americans under the command of McArthur. McArthur abandoned Philiphine leaving the citizens behind and ran away to Australia. 

The famous word, "I shall return" still resonates. I could not confirm the camp where American 

citizens were held was under Hong's command, but it is quite possible because he was a 2-star general whose jurisdiction would be the entire Philippine prison camps. 

Amazing... all these records did not disappear but were turned up like a haunting nightmare, after all.

Although how much those stories are true, it certainly is disturbing!

The sad thing is the history repeats because no one learns the lesson!

BB Lee

P.S. BTW, Dr. Ohn, thanks to helping me to get the access to Korean Google written in Korean. That is another vista I missed all along! After I had a bad experience with Korean software 아래한글 which screwed up my computer, I couldn't dare to touch/fool around with the Korean alphabets not to get into the same trouble!

Strange... As you all may know, I had met a lot of Filipino doctors during my training

and I was very close to them. But none of them ever told me about the atrocities of

the Korean soldiers (of course, under the Japanese military).

Koreans are, at times, are very cruel. Maybe, they are one of the cruelest people in the world.

I guess you know what they did in Vietnam.

The cruelty of Koreans' psychology, actually, is what gave us our survival and success

in America and in other places in the world.

Koreans are cruel even to themselves. They seldom get defeated in social struggles.

It is because of their mental cruelty.

In a way, being cruel and being tough may be the same expression. 

I feel like I am just one of them.

Koreans are by no means characterized by being cruel.

The behavior of Korean prison guards during the Pacific War is an exception rather than a rule.

Koreans that I know are fun-loving, smart, and empathetic(정많은).

Hardly anybody refused to share the food when refugees knock the door 

asked for food during the Korean War, even though the house did not have 

enough food to eat. 

Dr. Ohn: 어떤 기회에 옛날 지도자 김규식박사 정보를 위키XX란 곳에서 읽었지요. 

그 분은 자기 일생을 한국독립에 바쳤고, 정치인의 길보다 애국의 길을 택했던 분이었어요.

Dr. Ohn이 지적했드시, 그분은 다른 정객처럼 지지자도 별로 많지 않았지요. 

그분의 표현에 이런 구절이 있었군요.

"한국인은 원래 잔인한 민족이다. 거기에 비하면  Russians은  순진하고 좋은 인성을

가진 민족이다.

한데, Russia에 공산혁명이 일어난 후 서로 죽고 죽이기를 수천만이나 하였다. 

만일 한국에 공산당이 일어나면 그보다 훨씬 참혹한 살육이 있어날것이다.

그래서 나는 한국에 공산세력이 들어오는 걸 반대한다."

나 역시 전반적으로 동감합니다. 정다운 한국인은 자기네들 끼리 정답지요. 

미국에서 살다 온 우리에게까지도 대단한 배티감을 갖는다고 나는 믿어요. 

우리 민주주의 사회에서는 자기의 주장도 있고, 다른 사람의 주장도 있지요.

내 말만 옳다고 주장하는 건 아닙니다. 

그러나 자기보다 못하다고 생각하는 외국인에게 차별대우하는 건 좋아 보이지 않습니다.

말하자면  월남여성이나 필리핀 여성이 한국남성과 결혼해 온 사람들이 겪는

수모와 수난을 말하는 것입니다. 

Please stop there!

You guys got it all wrong.

A person can be very cruel and also, at the same time, can be very gentle, humble, and charitable.

Everyone has all these characters (=성품) at the same time. If not, he's not a human being.

We all have all these characters within us, good or bad.

Someone being cruel does not mean he can not be kind and gentle, and vice versa.

What brings which one of these characters depends on the circumstance one gets into.

Agree, Steve! 

Feel silly, isn't it?

Will delete some of my laments not to irritate many other friends!

All the best,

BB Lee