Chronologies
Japan - Korea
Chronology from May 2011 to Aug 2011
: A second anti-Hallyu (‘Korean Wave’) demonstration is held in front of Fuji TV headquarters in Tokyo. The Hankyoreh reports participation by roughly 6,000 people.
: Yonhap News reports that South Korea has conducted two military drills aimed at protecting the islets of Dokdo/Takeshima in 2011.
: The meeting of the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Measures for the Safeguarding of Territory scheduled to be held on Dokdo is postponed due to inclement weather.
: South Korea protests the decision by the US maritime boundary agency to notify the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) to only back usage of “Sea of Japan,” which South Korea calls the “East Sea.”
: Chosun Ilbo reports that roughly 500 demonstrators gathered around Fuji TV headquarters in Tokyo, to protest broadcasts of Korean TV dramas.
: An editorial in Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) lambastes Japan for its efforts to claim Dokdo/Takeshima as part of its own territory.
: According to the Chosun Ilbo, Japanese LDP members, Hirasawa Katsuei and Shimomura Hakubun, pledged to visit Ulleungdo in September after the closing of the regular session of the Diet.
: The Mainichi Shimbun reports that the South Korean Foreign Ministry has summoned Kanehara Nobukatsu, a diplomatic minister at the Japanese embassy, to protest Japan’s claim to Dokdo/Takeshima in its newly-released 2011 Defense White Paper.
: Three lawmakers from Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are denied entry by South Korean immigration officials at Gimpo International Airport. Japanese Foreign Minister Matsumoto Takeaki summons South Korean Ambassador to Japan Shin Kak-Soo to lodge a protest.
: A right-wing professor of Takushoku University is denied entry by South Korean immigration officials at Incheon International Airport, due to the local justice ministry’s disapproval of his visit.
: Yonhap News announces ROK Foreign Minister Kim-Sung-hwan met Japanese counterpart Matsumoto Takeaki on the sidelines of ASEAN-related meetings in Indonesia and expressed “strong” regret over Japan’s punitive actions taken against Korean Air in mid-July.
: Kyodo News reports that Japan, at the 18th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Indonesia, refutes North Korea’s claim that the Japanese abduction issue has been settled.
: The League of Korea-Japan Female Lawmakers meets in Seoul, Korea. The league is chaired by Na Kyung-won, a former Grand National Party (GNP) spokeswoman. This marks the second such gathering since its inaugural meeting in 2010.
: Jin Air, a low-cost Korean airline, celebrates the inauguration of its first route into Japan, connecting Incheon and Sapporo.
: Hyundai Steel, South Korea’s second-biggest steelmaker, announces that it expects to secure orders from three to four Japanese shipbuilders in the second half of 2011.
: Kyodo News reports that the Tokyo District Court has rejected a suit filed by South Korean plaintiffs in which they called for the removal of the names of their deceased relatives from the list of those enshrined at the Yasukuni Shrine.
: DongA Ilbo reports that the state-run Japanese Science and Technology Agency has agreed to sell Samsung Electronics its patented technology of a new semiconductor, paving the way for Samsung to create large displays with resolutions up to 10 times greater than existing products.
: Several South Korean groups protest in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, demanding the immediate cancellation of the intended visit to Ulleungdo by Japanese lawmakers and vowing to continue daily demonstrations until Aug. 2. Meanwhile, the South Korean government announces its plans to use Dokdo to hold a general meeting of the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Measures for the Safeguarding of Territory.
: According to Asahi Shimbun, the Japanese government has instructed its officials to boycott Korean Air for a month in response to the carrier’s inauguration of its newly purchased A380 jumbo jet with a flight over Dokdo/Takeshima.
: Kyodo News cites a new agreement forged between Japan’s Toshiba Corporation and South Korea’s Hynix Semiconductor Inc. to jointly develop a new type of memory chip known as MRAM.
: Asahi Shimbun reports that South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc., and Japan’s Hitachi Plant Technologies Ltd., have agreed to establish a joint venture in the water business.
: According to the Mainichi Shimbun, Japan is willing to allow Chang Ung, a North Korean member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), entry into Tokyo for an Olympic Council of Asia meeting. This marks an exception to Tokyo’s ban on entry by North Korean nationals since October 2006, in protest of Pyongyang’s nuclear test.
: Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) lambastes Japan for participating in the Korean War by helping the US with supplies and forces to keep the war going, demanding an apology for the “sin” committed.
: Son Hak-gyu, leader of the South Korean Democratic Party, meets Japanese Prime Minister Kan Naoto at his official residence in Tokyo.
: Yonhap News reports that the ROK-Japan bilateral agreement for the return of ancient Korean texts from Japan has come into force, roughly seven months after the initial signing of the accord.
: JoongAng Daily reports on the first Korea-China-Japan Economic and Trade Forum, held in Seoul. The forum included Oh Young-ho, vice chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), Bi Jiyao, director of the Foreign Economic Institute (Academy of Macroeconomics) from China, and Shinji Fukukawa, president of the Japan China Organization for Business, Academia & Government Partnership from Japan.
: Yonhap News cites a May 19 article by The Nikkei concerning an agreement to establish a joint South Korea-Japan investment fund for financing Asian television programming (to be launched in June) dubbed the “Asia Content Fund.”
: According to DongA Ilbo, the Upper House in the Japanese Diet has ratified an agreement on the return of ancient Korean texts to Seoul with a vote of 145-86. This comes a month after the Lower House passed the bill.
: Asahi Shimbun reports that Japanese Foreign Minister Matsumoto Takeaki lodged a formal protest against the May 25 visit of South Korea’s Minister of Gender Equality and Family Paik Hee-young to the disputed islands of Dokdo/Takeshima.
: Asahi Shimbun announces that the Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Muto Masatoshi lodged a protest with Park Suk-hwa, first vice minister of South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade, over the visit by three South Korean lawmakers to the disputed Kuril Islands, which occurred with the permission of the Russian government.
: The fourth Trilateral Japan-China-South Korea Summit is held in Tokyo. Issues addressed in the declaration include multilateral cooperation on disaster management and nuclear safety, economic growth, and environmentally sustainable development.
: Japan’s Ministry of Finance announces that Seoul and Tokyo have reached an agreement to mutually recognize the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) system. This means that the AEO status of economic operators will be taken into account during the security risk assessment procedure by Japanese and South Korean customs authorities. For Japan, South Korea marks the fifth such partner, following New Zealand, US, European Union, and Canada.
: The Daily NK reports the announcement by the Japanese consulate in Shenyang that it will no longer protect North Korean defectors following a demand by China to stop.
: Seoul’s Six-Party Talks envoy Wi Sung-lac and Japanese counterpart Sugiyama Shinsuke meet and agree to a “three-step process” in resuming the Six-Party Talks, recognizing the need for preliminary talks between Seoul and Pyongyang.
: South Korea and Japan hold director general-level talks on a free trade agreement in Seoul, the second of the kind since the first round of talks in Tokyo on Sept. 16, 2010.
: Yonhap confirms that North Korea will take legal action against two Japanese citizens detained since March 14 on charges of drug trafficking and counterfeit activities. The men were initially arrested after entering Rason City in the North’s special economic zone.