It is shameful that some Korean nettizens are posting disgraceful messages on the Internet following the Thursday - and ongoing - large scale earthquake in Kumamoto, Japan. They claim that Korea must not help Japan because it tries to distort history instead of thanking Koreans who rolled up their sleeves to collect donations for the Japanese, whose lives were totally devastated by the cataclysmic earthquake and tsunami of 2011. Some netizens even clamor for providing aid to Ecuador - instead of Japan - which was also battered by recent massive earthquakes on the other side of the Ring of Fire. This is an utterly deplorable development
- disgraceful : 수치스러운, 부끄러운 cf. disgraceful deed : 치사한 짓거리
- distort : (사실, 생각등을) 왜곡하다. (형체, 모습,소리 등을) 비틀다 n. distortion : 뒤틀림, 찌그러짐, 왜곡
- roll up one's sleeves : 소매를 걷어붙이다. 일에 착수하다.
- devastate [|devəsteɪt] : 완전히 파괴되다. (사람에게) 비탄에 빠뜨리다.
- cataclysmic[kæ̀təklízmik] : 격변하는
- clamor(=clamour) : (~ for STH) (큰 소리로) 요구하다
- batter : (특히 심한 손상이 가해지도록 계속) 두드리다, 때리다, 구타하다
- utterly deplorable : 참으로 개탄스러운
It is true that Seoul-Tokyo realtions have rapidly deteriorated since 2011, when the magnitude 9.0 undersea earthquake hit Japan. Despite an agreements last year between the two governments on the existence of sex slaves serving Japan's Imperial Army during World War II, the nationalistic Shinzo Abe administration has consistently denied the fact that the Japanese government had been behind the forced mobilization of "comfort women" during the war. Prime Minister Abe sparked outage among Koreans by declarig that his cabinet would review the Murayama Statement, which apologized for Japan's colonial rule of Korea. President Park GH also contirbuted to the the strained relations by adhering to the principle that without resolving the sex slave issue, both sides can't maintain normal relations
- spark : 불꽃, (논쟁에) 불을 붙이다.
- adhere to STH : ~ 을 고수하다.
Neverthless, the refusal to help a neighbor in misfortune for political reasons or gloating over their suffering can not be justified, no matter what. Surely Koreans did not collect donations for the Japanese at the time of the Tohoku earthquake to hear Japan express their gratitude to us. We must make efforts to enhance the dignity and happiness of humankind irrespective of race and nationality - particularly in times of natural disasters. Even when enemies are injured in the middle of war, soldiers treat them. That's the spirit of humanity. Koreans must help their close neighbors in distress.
- dignity : 위엄, 존엄, v. dignify : 위엄있게 보이다.
- gloat (about / at / over) : 고소한듯 바라보다. 남의 불행에 고소해하다.
You can choose your friends, but not your neighbors. No matter how much hatred lingers in our hearts, Japan is a neighbor, and we must live together. Moreover, Japan is a country that shares democracy with us. That means both sides have many things in store for them to help each other with. Hatred leads to hatred. The feelings of hostility and animosity clearly represented by our netizens' posting of malicious messages only fuel Japanese people's hatred toward Koreans. Even though Japan sometimes behaves in a disappoing manner, we must scrap such a narrow-mined, exclusive and ethnocentric mind-set.
- animosity to/toward : ~에 대한 적대감, 반감.
- ethnocentric : 자기민족 중심적인
큐슈에서 발생한 지진으로 엄청난 피해를 입은 일본에 구호의 손길을 보내자는 인도적인 마음과는 달리 일부 네티즌은 양국간의 상할데로 상한 감정으로 도움을 주지말자고 한단다. 한때나마 네티즌들과 같은 생각을 하며, gloat over 한 적도 있었다. 물론 내게도 일본인 절친이 많이 있다. 하지만 우리가 인도적인 손길을 보내주었는데도 일본 정부와 일부 극우파는 여전히 우리 국민들 가슴을 batter하는 짓거리를 서슴치 않을텐데... 우리만 인도적인 자세를 견지하여야 할지를 다시 생각해보게 하는 사설이다. (2016년 4월 20일자 중앙일보 사설을 읽고)
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