Leaflet being handed out near the Japanese embassy today:
On every trip I have made to Korea I have come across leaflets handed out at station exits accusing some distinguished person of being a pro-Japanese traitor (친일 매국노) but I think this is the first whose alleged treason was committed during my own lifetime.
I don’t read Korean, but the date is interesting: is it because he went to Hirohito’s funeral?
Yes, that’s almost right – he didn’t go to the funeral as far as I know, but according to this leaflet, Kim paid a treasonous visit on the 9th to the Japanese embassy in South Korea, paying his respects to the “Japanese king” who, along with his more well-known crimes, apparently also “invaded Korea,” which, if you think about it, is not bad for a 9-year old. Maybe he decided to spend his summer taking the country over while his grandpa, the Meiji emperor, was busy elsewhere.