Sorting Through Shinzo Abe's Dog Whistles

August 15, 2015 is the 70 year anniversary of the end of World War II. With it, a fresh round of tension builds in East Asia over Japan's recognition of its past. Every year around this time, the Japanese Prime Minister would issue a statement, China and Korea would react in anger, each side would engage in a war of words, only to repeat the next year. This tends to bewilder the observers outside of East Asia. To the people who only occasionally pay attention to East Asia, Japan's annual statements sure look like an apology, and Korea/China appear petty for questioning the sincerity of the apologies.

This outlook comes partially from the fact that the occasional observer lacks the historical context of the rhetoric being used in the apology. As George Orwell eloquently noted, it is common in politics to use coded language to disguise the true meaning of a statement that is deeply offensive. In the U.S., these code words are known as "dog whistle"--ordinary people cannot hear them, but those who are familiar with the context react to those words.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
(source)

Shinzo Abe, Japan's right-wing prime minister, is a master of dog whistles. His statement yesterday, commemorating the 70 year anniversary of the end of World War II, was rife with coded language. For those who are not familiar with those codes, TK will reproduce the entire statement below, and point out exactly where the dog whistles are.

Before we jump in, it would be helpful to know how the Japanese right wing, including Prime Minister Abe, recalls the history of Japan in the first half of 20th century. Below is the summarized version:

In the late 19th century, Western nations began the trend of imperialism, in which they invaded and subjugated the rest of the world based on the idea of white race's superiority. To defend itself against these forces, Japan modernized quickly and formed the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, made up of neighboring Asian nations in the spirit of racial solidarity. Other empires attempt to suppress the rise of the Japanese empire by choking Japan off of the vital natural resources that it required. Japan tried to break the deadlock by attacking Pearl Harbor, which led to World War II. In the end, Japan was defeated.

Note how in this alternative telling of history, Japan is not the aggressor but a victim. Japan did not colonize its neighbors and murdered their resisting people; it organized them into a larger unit to fight against the onslaught of Europeans and Americans. World War II did not begin with Imperial Japan's cowardly attack on Pearl Harbor, but with other empires trying to put down the ascendant Japan. Japan did nothing wrong, other than to lose the war.

This vile revisionist history is what the Japanese right wing, including Shinzo Abe, firmly believes in. And the view of history is obviously displayed in Abe's statement yesterday, if one only knew where to look.

Full analysis of Shinzo Abe's statement,after the jump.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Blurred Knives, Do You Want Them?

Dear Korean,

I've started watching K-Dramas recently and now I have a question. What's the deal with blurry knives? (Imagine I said it in my best Seinfeld voice) When characters use knives as weapons they always mosaic the knife, but not when they are uses a tool (say in a kitchen). More curiously other hand held weapons (like say a gun) are not blurred. Even other bladed weapons (like swords) are never blurred. Why only knives? Why only when they are used as weapons? Have I just not watched enough shows to find the ones where this is not the case?

Brennan "Confused About Knives" Jordan

Short answer: the TV stations are following the regulations set by Korea Communications Standards Commission, which decides what may show up on television, and what may not. Rule 81, Art. 37 of KCSC Rules states: 

The following items, which may convey excessive shock, anxiety or disgust to viewers, may not be broadcast. There may be limited exceptions if such depiction is unavoidable in discussing the content; even in such cases, expression of these items must be approached cautiously.

1.  Graphic depiction of beheading, strangulation or dismemberment.
2. Direct depiction of the moment of suicide, or depiction that implies the method of suicide
3. Graphic depiction of killing or maiming with firearms, knives or other tools
4. Depiction of mangled corpse or body parts
5. Graphic depiction of killing of an animal
6. Other depictions that are similar to the above

The spirit of the rule is intuitive enough. Obviously, there has to be some decency rules as to what may or may not appear on television. But of course, application of any rules in the real world tends to be messy--especially when the rules are about expressions. In the American context, George Carlin described the absurdity in his infamous "Seven Dirty Words" bit. In Korea, blurring knives is part of the effort to comply with Article 37. There is plenty of inconsistency if one looks for it, but the same can be said about pretty much any application of the law. (Just think about how routinely people violate the speed limit without getting punished.)

But it is fair to say that the blurring can get a bit too patronizing. Such hyperactive blurring, in some cases, does limit the fuller depiction of reality. For example, the critically acclaimed 2009 drama Friend tracked the lives of Busan-area gangsters who grew up together as childhood friends. In order to create realistic fight scenes without getting caught in the blur machine, the showrunners studiously avoided having their characters wield actual weapons like a knife or a lead pipe. Instead, the show depicts them using household items, such as a wooden club that Koreans in the 1960s for laundry. But no matter--the censors still blurred the oh-so-harmless wooden club, causing annoyance with the viewers. 

Example of a cigarette being blurred. This tends to happen when a TV station shows a movie.
(source)

Blurring on Korean television can get hyperactive in other areas. Depending on how the censors are feeling, cigarettes are sometimes blurred. Product labels are usually blurred, unless they were specifically authorized to appear pursuant to an agreement for product placement advertisement. This can also get pretty annoying, as the types of products that the characters use can indicate their personality and their surroundings. But thems are the rules.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.