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KoreanBlog's Prize-Winning Competition for March 2005

Year 2005 is the year of friendship between South Korea and Japan.

Since the co-hosting of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the two countries have engaged in cultural, academic, sports and personnel exchanges more briskly than ever. The majority of their people hope that such meaningful exchanges would continue for furthering of their amity.  

Unfortunately, however, the recent friction between the two countries is escalating concerning such issues as territorial rights to Dokdo Island and Japan’s distortion of history including its controversial history textbooks.  

Members of the international community including South Korea and China hope that Japan will take a mature posture to pursue reconciliation and cooperation with its neighbors by sincerely reflecting on its past wrongdoings as a responsible member of the international community.

KoreanBlog envisions a future in which South Korea, Japan and China work together to co-prosper in harmony. Creation of such future requires Japan’s sincere self-reflection and other Asian nations’ generous forgiveness. KoreanBlog invites your opinions pertinent to this issue.  

Your help is crucial! Please, help Japan make a sincere apology for the afflictions that it inflicted upon its neighbors in the past and be reborn as a true partner of other Asian nations, as it said.

How to Enter the Competition (Please, select any of the following for entry.)

1. Write an essay on ‘reconciliation of Asian countries’ on KoreanBlog;

2. Introduce the homepages/e-mail addresses of scholars, civil organizations and other relevant institutions around the globe that can help Japan become a responsible member of the international community based on apologies and changes; and/or

3. Introduce movements toward self-reflection and reconciliation in Japan (related newspaper articles, posts, etc.).