Natural that Park attend parade

Whether the president of the Republic of Korea will attend a military parade on Sept 3 in Beijing, to commemorate the victory in the fight against Japanese aggression 70 years ago, has stirred up a heated debate between the ROK and Japan and the United States.

The ROK has made consistent efforts to strike a balance between its relations with the US and China, and to prevent its diplomatic exchanges with each of them from offending the other.

Park Geun-hye's attendance at the parade would be natural, as the ROK is China's strategic partner and friendly neighbor.

The increasingly close ties between China and the ROK, and the personal friendship between the heads of the two countries mean that Park's attendance at the parade would be a show of support to China on historical issues and a legitimate display of the friendship between the two countries.

Also, given that the ROK and China were both victims of Japan's wartime aggression, the public in both countries expect their leaders to stand shoulder to shoulder at the event to commemorate the victory in the fight against Japan's brutal pursuit of dominion, which will help people in Asia and around the world remember the sacrifices that were made to defeat fascism.

Park's attendance would also offer the ROK people a chance to express their anger and concern at Japan's attempts to whitewash its wartime crimes and show their solidarity with China on the need to uphold historical truths.

There is no reason Park's presence at the parade should undermine the ROK's relations with the US, which itself was a key player and a supporter of China in the fight against Japan's fascism. The US should support any effort to safeguard the victory of World War II and the postwar world order.

The above is an article carried in www.haiwainet.cn on Thursday.