S. Korea to demand removal of Japanese column insulting Park

SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to demand the retraction of a Japanese newspaper column that likens President Park Geun-hye to a former Korean empress slain by Japanese agents, a government official said Tuesday.

Japanese conservative daily Sankei Shimbun carried a column on its homepage Monday critical of Park's plan to attend a massive military parade in Beijing marking China's victory over Japan in World War II.

Calling Park's decision an example of "toadyism," the column said Korea's Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) had a woman of power just like Park, referring to Empress Myeongseong.

Myeongseong, who was considered a major obstacle to Japan's overseas expansion, was murdered in 1895 by agents under Miura Goro, the then Japanese minister to Korea.

"We plan to demand the newspaper delete the article and prevent recurrences," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

South Korea plans to lodge the protest through its embassy in Tokyo as soon as possible.

"I feel it's not even worth commenting on certain figures in Japan who continue to make shameless claims about the past, with a DNA of historical distortion and revision, and an outrageous article by a newspaper linked to them," the official said.

Last year, the paper's Seoul bureau chief reported rumors that Park may have been with a man at the time of the April 16 ferry sinking that left more than 300 people dead or missing.

The reporter is currently on trial here for charges of libel.

hague@yna.co.kr
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