Japanese Conservative Media
Japanese conservative media criticized UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after he urged political leaders in that country to reflect on its past wartime atrocities at a press conference during his visit to Seoul on August 26.
In an August 28 article, the Yomiuri Shimbun censured the Secretary-General for his remarks by expressing that he said biased, troubling, and meddling remarks that are beyond understanding, given that he is the UN Secretary-General, who is supposed to be neutral and impartial.
The newspaper also pointed out, "In a press conference, a UN Secretary-General normally speaks in an official language such as English or French. But this time he mainly spoke in Korean. Korea should realize that given his position, Korea's common sense means nonsense in a global standard."
The San Kei Shimbun also criticized him in an article by saying, "His prejudiced remarks are biased toward Korea and China, who are increasingly critical of us over incidents in the past. That is unacceptable. In particular, his comments on the issue of revising our post-World War II pacifist constitution are tantamount to interference in our internal affairs."
The article also stressed that it is quite natural that Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, expressed unpleasant feelings about the remarks by saying that he feels doubtful. The article concluded by saying,"Tokyo ought to demand an explanation over his comments."