By Kim Eun-young and Lee Jihae

"The Korea-Japan issue is entirely our responsibility and making change should start with us."

This is what Yoon Su-yeon of Korea and Koichi Kuwabara of Japan stress to the people of their two countries. Both are striving to improve the strained relations between their nations.

In written and phone interviews on Feb. 4 with Korea.net, both said they thought of what they could do to improve bilateral relations and came up with giving free hugs to eradicate prejudice between the two people.

Since August last year, Kuwabara has gone to public places in Korea holding the Taegeuki (Korean national flag) and a free hug sign to offer free hugs. Yoon began her activity in October last year, grabbing a Japanese flag and a free hug sign to embrace Japanese.

Since starting in Sapporo, Yoon has given free hugs in 15 cities in Japan including Tokyo and Osaka. She said she hugged more than 2,000 people within her first 17 days.

In Korea, Kuwabara has given free hugs nationwide including at Gwanghwamun in Seoul, where protests against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are held, and in Busan.

"I know that one hug cannot solve all the problems, but it's important to be aware of the prejudices we have toward each other," said Yoon.

Kuwabara added, "I'm sure that these small changes will add up and lead to big changes in Korea-Japan relations."



Both Yoon and Kuwabara were not always welcome, however, as they occasionally got cold stares and mocks from people. But neither gave up because they said they saw the difference their hugs had on some people.

"A Japanese told me that he thought Korean protests were violent and that Koreans hated Japanese," said Kuwabara.

"He said that after seeing my activities, he saw that (Korean) protests were peaceful candlelight vigils. Koreans also gave me words of encouragement. Free hugs also made me reflect again on my own prejudices."

Yoon said, "Some told me that they gained courage by watching me give free hugs on (Japan's) Tsushima Island, where the number of Korean visitors has plummeted. Some who suffered due to fraying bilateral relations said that my actions gave them encouragement, which in turn gave me strength."

"I even have Japanese who financially support the needed expenses for my activities through crowd funding."

On relations between the two countries, Yoon said, "We shouldn't make this a black-or-white issue of who's good or bad. Hatred on both sides cannot lead to true peace."

Kuwabara added, "Knowing each other properly is the first step in building the right relationship. We have to start by changing what we can."

eykim86@korea.kr