ROK stands firm on call for Japanese emperor

South Korea has reportedly rejected Japan's demand 'for apology over President Lee Myung-bak''s open call for Japan's emperor to apologise for Japan''s 35'-year subjugation and oppression of the Korean people. Meanwhile, Toru Hashimoto, one of the many rightwing politicians in Japan who is also 'the Osaka Mayor, 'has reportedly said that there is no evidence to show that Korean women were forced into sex slavery by Japan's military in wartimes and he asked South Korea to prove it. Other rightwing figures, like Tokyo''s Governor Shintaro Ishihara and Nagoya''s 'Mayor Takashi 'Kawamura deny the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. For years, history textbooks for Japan's schools have been subject to scrutiny in neighbouring countries, 'especially China and South Korea. Seen in this context, President Lee Myung-bak is not an ill-mannered or mad man but a voice of conscience for many Koreans and Chinese.