As well you should. That’s the whole point of these discussions. I look forward to giving you plenty of opportunities to use that axe of yours. Keep it sharp though, and light. I’m not a soft target.

See you around.

And you don?€™t know the age-old, time-honored playground rule that every boy should spiritualize: ?€œNever talk dirty about other guys?€™ mommies!”. If we both would be five year old boys again - dude, you would have kissed my toes with your bleeding teethless mouth. Sangnom. - me, Sugar Shin

This “knocking the teeth out” reaction of mine was because of your inclusion of my beloved mommy in our little mud battle. That’s all. I’ll drop out of the mud slinging fest and look on for other opportunities (there’re always plenty of them at Marmot’s) to spread my personal (not “Korean”) opinions. Meanwhile I’m gonna sharpen my battle axe with a mean grin on my face. Tee hee hee.

By the way, before this argument of ours goes further out of control, let me say, despite whatever differences we’ve had here, and lord knows we’ve had some big ones, I appreciate you taking the time to respond to each post. Thanks for that.

You may disagree, but I’m approaching this subject not from the perspective of who is right and who is wrong [because frankly I don't know, and neither do you], but rather from the perspective of–”Much of the evidence disagrees with the traditional Korean view. Neither does it support the Chinese view. Let’s look more closely.”

You and Sugar [and others] may not appreciate my sincerity in doing this and may question both my motives and my approach, but before you “knock my teeth out” [Sugar, are you there?] understand that I have spent most of my life living in Korea and studying this people, probably longer than you have even been alive. Although I am resigned to the fact that Korea will never accept me as anything other than a long-term resident foreigner because I don’t have a drop of Dangun’s blood in my veins, I respect this country and its people more than you will ever be able to understand.

If I come across as an asshole at times [and I admit that I do] it’s because I also see a huge tendency here in Korea to ignore any facts the don’t firmly agree with the traditionally accepted view. This tendency is shared by all peoples and cultures, but I think it’s is unusually prevalant in Korea and not particularly well concealed.

The whole concept of korean “Han” is dangerous, especially right now. It’s somewhat like going into battle [in this case an ideological battle against the Chinese] without any ammunition.

When Koreans [and everyone] can look more closely at the facts behind the allegations, they will be able to more successfully combat the Chinese culture grab. But doing nothing but parroting the stories of the Samguk Yusa will accomplish nothing. The Chinese government is sitting back and laughing at Korea’s helplessness right now.

Who cares, you ask? Perhaps no one, but keep in mind that this issue will likely not be decided by guns and cannons, but by public opinion. The whole world is watching, and Korea is putting up a terrible fight so far. Mostly whining and moaning about being “robbed’ of their cultural legacy.

No one is going to buy that. Korea is the world’s 10th richest power, the world’s most educated country, and a major player in modern international politics. Is this the best they can do, the most they can say in their own defense? I hope not. But only time will tell. Stay tuned.

So, anyway. I wanted to say that. And I appreciate you taking the time to read it.

Now, back into the ring…there’s still mud to sling.

Perhaps after this is all over we can meet for a drink and laugh about it. Just so long as Sugar promises not to hurt me.

??œ??­?????œ ?????¨ ??¼?³¸?????Œ?“¤???, ??¸?§€?§???¸??”.”

Nope. Not a trace of blind nationalism in that statement. Pure rational debate based solely on the evidence. Good job there, Sin. You’re a credit to Korean scholars everywhere. Thanks for this major contribution to the advacement of knowledge.

Since you’ve so succinctly settled this one for us, we’ll all just move on to much more important topics now, like whether the two Koreas will be able to march together into the Olympics symbolizing their eternal unity and friendship.

Kumbaya, brother.

Heute Koguryo, dann nach die Welt.