Crafting the Apology: Japanese Apologies to South Korea in 1990

Abstract

This rhetorical study of Japanese government apologies made in 1990 to the President of South Korea considers national apology as part of a process, rather than as standalone and rhetor-driven text. These apologies demonstrate the interactional and intersubjective nature of national discourse, revealing perhaps surprisingly the role of the recipient and audience in the construction— indeed “co-construction”—of the apology. The role of the media is particularly important in this process.