It was somewhat of a history lesson to Japan from President Moon Jae-in this morning... as the president told Japan to be honest and said that the country can be born again only when it remembers and reflects on its shameful past.
As for the expansionary budget plan for 2020,... he said Japan's recent trade curbs have, in fact, solidified the path the Korean economy will take.
Shin Se-min starts us off.
President Moon Jae-in said Japan needs to be honest,... coming out hard against the Japanese government's efforts to link historical issues to economic matters,... calling such an attitude,... "disingenuous."
"Japan must be honest. No matter what excuse it invokes as justification, it is clear that the Japanese government has linked historical issues to economic matters."
Speaking during a Cabinet meeting Thursday to review the government's budget plan for next year,... President Moon said the attitude of the Japanese government towards historical issues has never been honest,... and its reluctance to either acknowledge or repent for its wrongdoings only aggravates the wounds of the victims.
"Recollection and self-reflection about the past can never be complete. This is not something that can be brought to a conclusion just by saying that repentance is over because it was uttered once. Or that the past is completely over because an agreement was reached in the past."
The president sent a clear warning to Japan,... even saying it should take lessons from Germany that earned the trust of the international community through its acceptance and sorrow for its past.
This is the first time the president has used the term "honest" in the two-month period since Japan first initiated its trade restrictions against South Korea, to which Seoul responded last week by ending the bilateral military information sharing agreement with Japan.
Pressing Japan over its offensive attitude toward its historical wrongdoings,... the president added the South Korean government's budget next year was organized with the aim of building an "unshakable nation," indicating it's an aggressive, expansionary fiscal policy.
He said the government considered multiple factors both internal and external to devise the record budget of 423 billion U.S. dollars,... and Japan's recent "unreasonable" trade restrictions has solidified the path of the future of the South Korean economy.
Shin Se-min, Arirang News.