South Korea at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the team were granted exemption to two years of mandatory military service but still required to do four weeks of basic training. Park Jong-Woo was not present at the medal ceremony after the gold medal match between Mexico and Brazil and did not receive the bronze medal with the rest of his team due to his political position on the Liancourt Rocks, which are disputed both by South Korea and Japan by having a claim on the islands, after FIFA was notified about Park holding a sign of South Korea having claim on Dokdo, the Korean name for the
Korean nationalism bringing closure to an unjust chapter in our history with Japan and of the full consolidation of Korea’s sovereignty.” Later on in his speech Roh also mentions the Yasukuni Shrine and Japanese history textbook controversy, saying that they will be dealt with together. Having placed the Liancourt Rocks issue "in the context of rectifying the historical record between Korea and Japan" and "the safeguarding of [Korea's] sovereignty", compromise becomes impossible. As the French theorist Ernest Renan said, "Where national memories are concerned, griefs are of more value than triumphs, for they impose duties, and require a common effort." The Liancourt