Comments on: Party Pooper on Anti-Chinese sentiment in Korea

By: The Marmot

The Marmot — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 08:15:07 +0000

Methinks you may be right, Mr. Larsen

By: Kirk Larsen

Kirk Larsen — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 06:36:39 +0000

Methinks perhaps you doth protest too much. Perhaps the Party Pooper is attempting irony: comparing the _lack_ of a South Korean reaction to the Air China crash to what might have happened had it been an American Airlines flight?

Just a thought.

By: usinkorea

usinkorea — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 03:11:08 +0000

I think I would distinguish between popular anti-Chinese attitudes and social ones.

I have always been surprised how few Koreans blame China for the division of Korea or voice anger over Chinese activities shortly before the colonization of Korea by Japan even though they do blame the Russians for that period when all three nations were deeply involved.

In popular thougths on China, I think the average Korea sees a Great Yellow Hope —- they seem to take it for granted, for the most part, that an Asian “number one superpower” will be better than the US hegemon.

But…..when it comes down to things like the significant Chinese-Korean population in the South and more basic personal ethnic afinities, there is some clear anti-Chinese feelings.

Also, we do see some flare ups over issues like the Great Garlic War of a few years ago.

However, even here, these trade flare ups seem to me to remain isolated incidents….

they don’t seem to accumulate into the Big Bag of Hate like for the US.

Who has issues like the F-15K of 2001-02 placed along side the Kwangju Massacre of 1981.

By: Conrad

Conrad — Wed, 29 Oct 2003 03:10:04 +0000

The very idea of the Koreans criticizing another country’s air safety practices, with KAL the greatest airborne threat to human life since the kamakazis, is hilarious.

By: Ulsan

Ulsan — Tue, 28 Oct 2003 17:11:10 +0000

Haven’t you ever heard Koreans deride Chinese? They love to say that Chinese are ‘dirty’ and ‘cheaters.’ I would say that they are taught to be anti-Chinese at a fairly young age, as I hear that sentiment among even the youngest kids I teach. It is unanimously the same reason when I am told by a Korean that they hate the Chinese– dirty and cheaters, the latter being a common theme in Asia and one I have heard as far away as Burma.

I think what it comes down to is that certain segments of Korean society will hate any country that is more powerful than Korea. They are taught from the beginning of their schooling that Korea is the greatest country ever to grace the face of the earth and then reality sets in that there are others greater in terms of money, power, military might, and so on. That would cause me some angst as well. Also there are the ‘civic groups’ whose soul existence is to stir shit up and find ‘reasons’ that society should hate this country or that.

In the case of the Chinese airliner going down, how about natural causes? Living fairly close to Busan, I can say that the weather SUCKED that day. Also wasn’t there some sort of ground radar unit that was out of order? I could be wrong on that. I know that the Korean Air plane that went down in Guam in 97 was due to that. (I wonder if people in Guam got pissed at Korea for crashing one of their planes on their tropical island paradise?)

As for refugees and Beijing’s relations with Pyongyang, I think that most Koreans could care less about either issue. Pyongyang is no longer a ‘threat’ since Kim Dae-jung bought his Nobel Peace Prize and who wants more “backward North Koreans” cramping the already tight job market?

By: slim

slim — Tue, 28 Oct 2003 16:57:18 +0000

Korea’s airlines actually have a worse safety record than Air China. The above example seems more like the standard xenophobia and gross immaturity of South Koreans regarding any and all outsiders when troubles arise. The Korean media coverage of that crash bordered on libelous.