German scholar "The Japanese are being forced to listen, people all over the world."

 A German professor of Japanese studies, who has lived in Japan for 17 years, criticized Japan's claim, pointing out the historical context of the Dokdo issue. Professor Florian Kulmas (56) of the University of Duisburg, Germany, argued in an article published on the 2nd of Switzerland's most prestigious German daily newspaper "Noe Zurher Zeitung (NZZ), "The Dokdo issue should be viewed from a historical perspective as an international law that confirmed the colonial struggle of powers." In particular, Professor Coolmas criticized the Japanese ambassador to Korea, who claimed Dokdo as Japanese territory, saying, "It is a remark that lacks courtesy, an important quality for diplomats." Regarding Japan's position to leave the Dokdo issue to the judgment of the International Court of Justice in the Hague, the Netherlands, Coolmas asked back, "Is it a fair and meaningful proposal?" Korea has been opposed to solving the Dokdo issue at the International Court of Justice, he said. "If Korea interprets it as fearing defeat, it does not know the historical background." Coolmas' argument is that "international law was a tool that eliminated Korea's existence in the past and achieved the Korea-Japan annexation, and based on this, Japanese politicians emphasize that Japan's colonial rule of Korea was still legal." Coolmas explained that Emperor Gojong sent three envoys to the Second Hague International Peace Conference in 1907 to accuse Japan of " Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905," but Japan represented South Korea with the consent of the international community, so the deprivation of Korea's sovereignty was imprinted as legitimate under international law. Coolmas pointed out that 100 years ago, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for mediating the Portsmouth Reinforcement Treaty to end the Russo-Japanese War, but South Korea was reduced to Japan's protected country. Coolmas is one of Germany's leading Japanese scholars and teaches contemporary Japanese language, Japanese culture, and history at the East Asian undergraduate school. Among his many books on Japan, "Uncontrolled Japan: From a Model Student to a Problem Child" explores how Japanese society is viewed in the international community as it changes. In addition, "The German Cries: The Observation of People from the Land of Smiles" compares Germany's daily life from a civilized society to a rude society with Japan. Reporter Seol Won-tae