정치권은 14일 아베 신조(安倍晋三) 일본 총리가 최근 자위대 기지를 방문, 생체실험을 자행했던 일본 관동군 세균부대인 '731부대'를 연상케하는 '731'숫자가 적힌 전투기에 탑승, 사진을 촬영한 데 대해 또다른 형태의 역사부정 행위로 규정하고 강력 비난했다.

새누리당 정몽준 의원은 보도자료에서 "우리나라와 중국 등 피해국에 대한 명백 한 도발행위"라면서 "독일의 메르켈 총리가 나치 문양을 한 전투기에 타고 기념촬영 하는 장면은 상상할 수 없는 일인데도 아베 총리는 이와 유사한 일을 버젓이 행하고 있다"고 비판했다.

정 의원은 "아베 총리와 그 주변 인사들의 침략역사 부정은 한국, 중국 등 피해 국에 대한 모욕 차원을 넘어 동아시아 지역의 새로운 불안 요인이 되고 있다"면서 "

일본은 역사를 거꾸로 되돌리려는 어리석고 위험한 행동을 즉각 중단해야 한다"고 촉구했다. 우리 정부에 대해서도 "중국, 미국 등 관련국과 협조해 일본의 폭주를 막 기 위한 조치를 취할 것을 강력히 촉구한다"고 밝혔다.

국회 '올바른 역사교육을 위한 의원모임' 소속 민주당 김성주 의원은 "일본 정부가 자국에서의 정치적 이득을 꾀하고자 역사를 왜곡해 주변국과의 관계를 악화시키는 악순환의 고리를 끊어야 한다"고 지적했다.

김 의원은 "역사 왜곡에서 비롯된 동북아 긴장 상태는 평화를 해치고 또 다른 형태의 전쟁을 조장할 뿐"이라며 "평화를 사랑하는 대다수 선량한 일본 국민의 올바른 역사인식으로부터 문제가 해결되기 바란다"고 덧붙였다.

아베 총리는 지난 12일 일본 미야기현 히가시마쓰시마의 항공 자위대 기지를 방 문, 곡예비행단인 '블루 임펄스'를 시찰하면서 T-4 훈련기 조종석에 앉아 환하게 웃으며 엄지손가락을 들어 올린 모습의 사진을 촬영했다. 아베 총리가 앉은 조종석 바로 아래에는 흰 바탕 위에 일장기를 상징하는 붉은 원과 '731'이라는 숫자가 검은색으로 선명하게 그려져 있다.

<관련 한글 기사>

Nationalist Japanese politicians raise ire of S. Korea and China

Tokyo’s rightward shift pose hurdles to U.S. refocus on Asia

By Song Sang-ho

Japanese nationalist politicians’ recent remarks and behavior underlining their unwillingness to atone for the country’s wartime crimes are raising the ire of South Korea and China, and posing hurdles to the U.S.’ strategic refocus on the Asia-Pacific.

Experts said Japan’s rightward shift could hamper efforts to ease the confrontational mood stemming from historical and territorial disputes, and multilateral practical cooperation in security, the economy and other areas.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe infuriated the two neighboring states once again this week after he posed for a photo in the cockpit of a warplane with the number 731 written on its body at an Air Self-Defense Forces unit Sunday.

The figure symbolizes Unit 731, a notorious covert chemical and biological research unit of the Japanese Army that carried out lethal human experiments during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II.

The incident was followed by controversial remarks by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, a feisty rightwing politician that co-chairs the emerging Japan Restoration Party.

“To maintain discipline in the military, it (Japan’s military’s sexual enslavement) must have been necessary at that time (during World War II),” he said Monday, drawing seething criticism from Seoul and Beijing, the two major victims of Japan’s past imperialism.

As the wartime sexual enslavement issue is now seen as a broader violation of human rights, a crucial value the U.S. has long trumpeted, such remarks could have serious diplomatic ramifications, Lee Jung-hwan, assistant professor at the School of International and Area Studies of Kookmin University, pointed out.

The hawkish Japanese premier also put the neighboring countries off guard as he sent his close aide, Isao Iijima, to Pyongyang in an apparent effort to address the long-simmering issue of Japanese nationals abducted by the communist regime.

The move triggered concerns that it could hamper ongoing efforts by Seoul, Washington and Bejjing to put up a united front and ratchet up pressure on Pyongyang to stop its provocations and come forward as a responsible member of the international community.

Though it is unclear whether Tokyo consulted with Washington over Iijima’s trip to the North, Seoul and Beijing were not informed of the visit that some experts said could play some role in easing the prolonged nuclear stalemate with the North.

For Japan, the abduction issue is a significant domestic political issue that can critically impact voter sentiment. Should the issue be addressed and North Korea-Japan ties be enhanced, Tokyo would also get some strategic leverage over the impoverished state, experts said.

Chung Sung-yoon, professor at Ilmin International Relations Institute of Korea University, said that Japan’s conservative moves posed two major dilemmas for South Korea in terms of their efforts to move the bilateral relationship forward and cooperate to cope with Pyongyang’s nuclear adventurism.

“Some of the major pro-Korea figures in Japanese politics also have different historical interpretations. This is one challenge Seoul faces to move the relationship forward into a future-oriented direction,” he said.

“Secondly, the challenge is in the realm of security cooperation. Emotional responses on both sides as to historical and territorial issues would lead to some cracks in their strategic cooperation to deal with the North.”

But Chung said that the rightward shift by the mainstream politicians was largely driven by domestic political purposes, predicting that the Abe government might seek a turnaround in relations with Seoul and Beijing once his purposes were met, possibly after the upper-house elections slated for July.

“Such worrisome remarks might have been politically driven as their elections are coming up and they seek to strengthen their support base, and for other domestic reasons,” he said.

“The U.S. has both directly and indirectly sent warnings to Japan and should it be nearing some sort of the redline, Washington might step in to rein it in.”

Japan’s recent moves that further exacerbated historical animosity between the country and South Korea and China have also triggered concerns for Washington. The U.S. has been striving to maintain regional preponderance based on multilateral cooperation amid the rise of China.

(sshluck@heraldcorp.com)