In Yuha Park's 2005 book "For a Reconciliation" between Korea and Japan, one observation caught my eye. Some Koreans condemn Japan as a "war-crime nation," therefore the equivalent of an "ex-convict" who's "eternally untrustworthy," the Korean scholar says. That forestalls further discussion, she says.

If "war crimes" emerged in World War II as a legal conception, you must start with the U.S. atomic bombs and extensive carpet bombings, Park explains.

That Japan is beyond redemption because it is a "war-crime nation" also seems to be a common assumption among U.S. commentators. As regards the Yasukuni Shrine, for example.