History wars in North-East Asia A revived spat between Japan and
South Korea unsettles the United States IT IS that time of year
again: the anniversary of the end of the second world war in
North-East Asia, when wound-opening patriots take the sticking-
plaster laid over historical grievances and give it a hard tug.
This year the top prize goes to the president of South Korea,
Lee Myung-bak. On August 10th Mr Lee visited Dokdo, a group of
islets in the Sea of Japan. Here the welfare of fragile marine
and bird life comes second to nationalist sensitivities in the
face of a rival claim to the rocks by Japan, which relinquished
control of Korea after its defeat in 1945. The islets’ two
permanent residents, an octopus fisherman and his wife, are
joined by a supporting cast of coastguards, installers of
mobile-phone masts, South Korean tourists and planters of exotic
trees—which for the purposes of territorial claims help
distinguish an island from a mere rock. Back on the mainland, Mr
Lee berated Japan for not red