‘Da Chosun reports that two ethnic-Korean Chinese were executed and two others sentenced to long prison terms for trying to smuggle Koguryo artifacts out of the country:
TOKYO - The Sankei Shimbun reported on Thursday, quoting a source in Seoul, that two ethnic Korean-Chinese persons were executed by firing squad and other two ethnic Korean-Chinese persons were sentenced to 25 years in prison. The four people attempted to smuggle artifacts from the Goguryeo Kingdom from China to North Korea in summer last year and were discovered by the Chinese authorities.
The artifacts were uncovered in the No. 4 and No. 5 tombs in Jian, Jilin Province. The remains of the Goguryeo Period are concentrated in the region. According to the Sankei Shinbun, the people insisted that they had tried to take out the artifacts to North Korea because China distorts the history of Goguryoe and ruins the relics from the kingdom.
The Chinese government, after the attempted smuggling, redesignated the area of the tombs as a ?history preservation zone,?? and has prevented people from entering, a sign of how important China considers the Goguryeo issue, the newspaper reported.
OK, I see the Chinese have come out to play in this “history war.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that the Korean government will reciprocate. Courtesy the Korea Times:
A top government official on Wednesday said that the intergovernmental approach to solving conflicts over the recent historical distortions by China would not be needed. The remarks are expected to cause controversy among scholars and citizens.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Lee Chang-dong made the remarks in his first press conference of the year at the ministry building in downtown Seoul, and presented his views on current controversy over distortion of Korean history by Chinese scholars.
Lee said that the controversy over the Chinese historians? distortion of the Koguryo Kingdom (B.C. 37 - 668 A.D.), which stretched from the Korean peninsula to the northeastern part of China, would be better to be discussed by the two countries’ historians, without the interference of either government.
“A political approach wouldn?t help anything to break through the situation, but will rather worsen it.” Lee said. “It?s not that the government will be a bystander about the matter, but an invisible hand behind the efforts of the private sector.”
According to Lee, China has long considered their territory the center of the world, which has often misled the Chinese into historical distortions. “The governmental approach has the risk of strengthening such a stance,” the minister said.
Come on Lee, who are you shitting? Has the Korean government allowed Japanese historical distortions to be handled simply at the private and academic level? Christ, the Japanese can’t publish a freakin’ textbook without some sort of official Korean protest, and you’re going to let the Chinese claim that Koguryo was part of the Middle Kingdom? Yo dudes, where can I score those threads?
UPDATE: Sweet political cartoon work by the Chosun (via the Yangban):
On a statue of Goguryeo’s King Gwanggaeto, China scribbles that Gwanggaeto was a general from one of Chia’s minorities in its remote regions. Mongolia’s Genghis Khan bashes China over the head, saying, “Well then I guess you have the same intentions for me!”
9 Comments
There may be a Koguryo element in the execution, but the Chinese are usually pretty serious about smuggling of antiques, and regularly execute people elesewhere in China for looting tombs and trying to get the stuff out.
So I don’t know for this case, but it is not just an issue with Korea. And arguably, any government is responsible for the preservation of what is on its territory.
You’re perfectly right, Alexandre, and I doubt the Korean-Chinese were smuggling those goods “out of concern for Chinese historical distortions.” I put it up there more because I find it extremely ironic that on the same day the Chinese execute some guys for smuggling Koguryo goods, Lee Chang-dong comes out and says the government won’t get involved in the Koguryo issue.
I would never condone the smuggling of cultural and historical properties, under any circumstances.
The interesting point for me is that these smugglers were taking the artifacts to NORTH Korea. These weren’t freelance smugglers out to make a buck, or they’d be taking the items to a place with more spending money. There must be a political angle to this story. Is North Korea having Goguryeo artifacts smuggled in from China because of the Goguryeo issue? This would make more credible the smugglers’ reported statements that they had taken the artifacts “because China distorts the history of Goguryeo and ruins the relics from the kingdom.”
Of course, if the North is behind this, and even if for political reasons, the smuggling is a very bad strategy since it would enable China to claim that ‘Korea is trying to steal Goguryeo from the Chinese.’
As for Minister of Culture and Tourism Lee Chang-dong and his remark that the Goguryeo issue should be left to the historians, this would be appropriate if he were speaking about U.S. historians. In the case of Chinese historians, however, the remark is inappropriate because China’s official policy seems to be one of claiming that Goguryeo was always Chinese. If the Korea Times article is correct, then Lee himself recognizes this:
“According to Lee, China has long considered their territory the center of the world, which has often misled the Chinese into historical distortions.”
I’m not sure how much credibility to give this, though, since the Times is paraphrasing Lee rather than quoting directly. Does anybody know his exact words? If he did state this, then it seems an inconsistency for him to urge the matter to be left to historians. Or was he perhaps implicitly admonishing China for not leaving the issue to historians?
What do the rest of you think? Should the Korean government take a strong line against China on this? They certainly would do so against Japan’s distortions of history.
Jeffery Hodges
Mr. Hodges, strangely enough, I’ve got two versions of direct quotes, the first from the Kyeongyang Shinmun and the second from the Segye Ilbo:
1) ?짚???짯?????????짯??쨈 ??졙?????쩌?징짹??짯?????쩌 ?짚???짯??짯????징흹 ??짚?짚???™??짚. ?쨀??????짚 ??짯?????? ?쨌쨍??째 ?짠???쩍?????흹 ??쨈??쨈??? ???????째???????짚. ????짠???? ????쨍째?째???쨈?????쨍 ????쨔???짹?????? ??쨈?흹??째???????? ?짼???쨈??짚. ??째???????????쨋??째짢????????흹 ?쨀????????흹쩌?징흹 ?흸????????짠??????짼???짚. ??쩌?징? ????쨋??????흹 ?흸??짹???? ??쨍??째?짠??????????짹쨈 ????????짚. ?째?????짠???????? ?쩔???쨈?짠??짠흸 ????쨈????짚??짚?징흹 ????쨀? ??쨍?????쑣?쨀쩌 ??흸?????쩌 ????쨀? ????쨀? ??쑩???????짠??????짼흸 ????쨋??째짢?????? ?쨀??????짚??? ??째??? ??쑣?????????? ?흸??짹???? ??쨍??째?쨀? ?????짚. ?짚???짯????????짚???™??р꽓??쩌?????????? ??졙?????쩌?징짹 ??짯????쨔흸?짠????징?????쨈??™??짚. 90????흸??쨋???째??????흹??짯??? ?쨍째???? ???????째?, ????????짢?짼쨈??쑣??쨈 ?흸??짹째 ?짠??쨋흹?????쨈??흹 2?째짹?짠흸 ??째??? ???????째???짹째??쩌???????????쨋? 3??짹??? ??쩌?째???? ????째???? ?????? ?짼???쨈??짚.
2) ?짚???짯??쨈??쩌?????흸??????짯?째???? ??쨔??짹??? ??졙?????쩌?징짹??? ??징?????쨈 ????쨍째 ??짯????징흹 ?짠흸??쑣??짚?????짚???™?????쨍 ?쨍째?짠???? ?짢쩌??????쨈??쨈?????쨈 ????쨋??째???흸????????????짼??????????짚????흹쩌?징흹 ??쨍??흹??쨈?짼째??? ????????쨈 ????짠??????????짚.
Here’s the definition of “?짚???™?, courtesy Yahoo’s Korean dictionary:
1.[?짚???쨍짯)?????짚???????™????)??????쨍??™??쩌?????흹??????흹] ?짠???흹???,??흹??쩌?징짹(챈쩌?챈째?샖??)??쨈 ??쩌?쨀???? ??쩌?징짹??? ?흸??????? ????쨍째??짚 ??쩌?징짹??? ????????쩌??? ??쨈??쨈??? ?짠?.
2.?짚???짯(?쨍짯?흹?).
Basically, what Lee is saying is that if we (Koreans) first understand Chinese feelings of “Junghwa” (i.e. the central/superior position of their culture vis-a-vis surrounding peoples) — with which China absorbs the histories of minority peoples into its own — we can see that a government response would do no real good in solving the problem. Lee also tends to see Chinese historical policies toward Koguryo in a defensive light - after all, he points out, tons of Korean tourists, scholars, and businesses have been pouring into China since the 90s, not to mention that there are two million ethnic Koreans living in China, so this has to be sensitive issue. In the later regard, he might be right — China does tend to have “issues” with its ethnic minorities — but as far as Chinese inclinations toward looking upon themselves as the center of the region, I don’t buy it. Yes, the Chinese have traditionally looked upon themselves as superior to their neighbors, but then again, Japan has a very long and proud tradition of ethnic chauvinism, but that didn’t stop the Korean government from issueing very strong protests (including the cutting off of military contacts and the recall of the ambassador in 2001) when the Japanese Ministry of Education approved a textbook that claimed, among other things, that the Kaya Kingdom was a Japanese colony and the Three Kingdoms paid tribute to Yamato Japan. Besides, it would seem wise if Korea made it a point to nip this “Middle Kingdom” stuff in the bud before it gets out of hand — you don’t want Beijing to get in the habit of demanding respect from the barbarians just because it’s China.
I talked through this issue tonight with some friends (Korean) and we have come to the conclusion that the Korean Government is *seriously* remiss in their handling of this issue, to which end my business collegues and I will now actively work towards raising the awareness of just how serious this issue is in the public sector. When we have more details, I will post them here accordingly.
It ain’t over until the fat lady sings and it turns out that maybe our lady has a pretty loud voice after all . . .
hmm.. very good points as always, marmot
Let’s say if anybody shares my point of view about Koguryo. It is not uncommon that an ancient kingdom went to more than one modern countries. If that happens, people in all involved countries can claim the ancient kingdom as part of their history if their don’t do the claim exclusively. In the case of Koguryo, the kingdom did cover the current territories of Korea and China. China recoganizes that Koguryo is part of Korea history. There is no dispute on that. Then if the people in the northeast part of China claim that Koguryo is part of their history, it seems also true. There is no distortion on that as long as they don’t deny it is also Korea history. China happens to be big and a lot of histories. So it seems that it is not necessary to claim more history, but it does not mean they can’t. Let’s imagine a situation to make a point. Assume the part of Koguryo in China later did not became part of China, but formed another country, called Kona. People in Kona really need to have Koguryo as their history. Can people in Korea oppose that? How is that different from the people in that part of China to make the same claim? There are many minorities in China. Therefore it is natural that the histories of the minorities are also Chinese history. Otherwise, the minorities would be unhappy. That would be discrimination. There is nothing wrong with that policy. Then what is solution to the current dispute? SHARE.
But the preoblem is not only related to the history of Koguryo: it’s also related to the territories of Koguryo. If Koguryo becomes Chinese history, then nearly all of North Korea belongs to China. While Koreans have no intention of taking Chinese land, the Chinese do, despite the fact that their government already has its hands full with Tibet, Taiwan, etc.
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