The U.K.-based daily The Guardian on Nov. 1 carried an op-ed piece by Alexis Dudden, a professor of history at the University of Connecticut, urging a ban on the use of the "rising sun" flag at next year's Tokyo Summer Olympics given the flag's "history of horror." (Screen capture from Guardian homepage)

By Yoon Sojung

An American historian specializing in the history between Korea and Japan has urged a ban on the use of Japan's "rising sun" flag at next year's Tokyo Summer Olympics in an op-ed piece carried by a British daily.

In her piece "Japan's rising sun flag has a history of horror. It must be banned at the Tokyo Olympics" published by The Guardian, Alexis Dudden, a professor of history at the University of Connecticut, made it clear why the flag must be prohibited at the Olympics, a festival for peace and harmony in the world.

She first asked readers to imagine what would happen if the Confederate flag from the U.S. Civil War was used at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. Dubbing the rising sun flag "a technically war flag," she said it must not be used at the Tokyo Olympics given the numerous pains and scars it left in many Asian countries during Japan's invasions throughout history.

Mentioning Korea's request to ban the flag in next year's Olympics, Dudden urged the International Olympic Committee to ban it, saying, "But it is not Japan’s national flag, so the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has the authority to exclude it from the Tokyo Games."

This flag must be banned, she said, because not only does it have symbolic meaning but it also brings back the horror and pain of millions of people in Korea, China, Singapore, Myanmar and the Philippines who suffered violence under the rising sun symbol.

The professor also mentioned U.S. responsibility in Japan's response to and attitude toward the flag, saying, "Its (U.S.) perennial insistence that Japan and South Korea 'work out among themselves' their wartime histories perpetuates the split by failing to address how the United States put in place many of the post-1945 problems that have affected the region."

"The standoff has become so bitter that Washington cannot even maintain a security pact arranged between Seoul and Tokyo to share intelligence about North Korean missile launches."

arete@korea.kr