Why can't they apologize? In school bullying too, there are kids who hit and kids who were hit. In their case, too, they get similarly stopped by a teacher or parent (or rather.. the police?). In their case, too, apologies don't come easy. Most apologies are only a formality. Why do perpetrators feel more victimized than victims?
For Japan, the thing they simply don't want to admit may not really be the inhumane atrocities. That alone is too thin a reason to explain the absence of sincere apology for the past 100 years. Could it be that what they cannot admit is not the atrocities they committed, but the fact that "we lost the fight. And the spoils we took for ourselves were taken away"? It's not that we should curse their lack of humanity, or rely on outsiders — we need to build up our own strength too. So that when we fight next time, we don't have to be cowardly.. There may be bullies who have never shaken anyone down, but there are no bullies who have shaken someone down only once.
What if we had stood up and fought? What if we had lost and then been stripped?
Japan fought the United States. And lost. From their point of view, maybe they had Korea taken away from them?
Korea gained independence through the U.S. and the Soviet Union. And each declaration was made separately. Those individuals' ambitions ultimately led to war and division.
