Now, a lot of negative things could be said about the British Museum, namely that it might be the largest collection of stolen goods on the planet. The VANKers, however, have chosen to fault it for making Korea look like a Chinese vassal state:
“While explaining the history of the Chosun Dynasty, it uses the word ‘Korea’ rather than ‘Chosun,’ making it seem as if the Korean people spent their entire history as a Chinese vassal state,” VANK president Park Ki-tae said Wednesday.
“It leaves a bitter taste in the mouth that this distortion, along with the fact that the Korea gallery is only one-fifth the size of the Chinese or Japanese galleries, is like confirmation that Korea was a vassal state of China,” he said. “We hope the government shows interest in this.”
Uh, good luck. Oh, and they apparently disliked the use of the term “Sea of Japan” rather than “East Sea” on the world map at Piccadilly Circus Station.
19 Comments
Can I just point out that in museums that I have been to in the world (okay, not that many in number, but somethintg tells me it is true right across the board) there are not special exhibits or rooms focussing on the Netherlans?
(Anybody in Korea seen any exhibition space devoted to the Netherlands? If so, please tell me so that I can go with clipboard and pen, and send my critique to VANK?)
Oh man, this is just getting too ridiculous for words. [adopts Dutch accent] Bloody Vankers.
The (London) Victoria and Albert Museum’s Korea section - sponsored entirely by Samsung I believe - is even worse. One of the most pathetic exhibits I’ve seen anywhere. Looks like a Kimpo airport souvenir store. Korea’s reputation would be better off with nothing there at all.
Why don’t the VANKers get on the Chosun Ilbo’s case for the misspelling in “Chosun Dynasty”?
Oh for f**k’s sake, what a load of bollocks… (can I use those words here?) I know I should be taking this post in a tongue-in-cheek manner, but really… What would satisfy these nationalist nutcases?
The Korea gallery is one of the newest and best galleries in the BM. The exhibits are extremely well presented and there is even a nice replica of a sarangbang made by that famous Korean traditional architect (whose name I can’t remember). In a country where knowledge of Korea is pretty short the gallery is a godsend and has been very well thought out. And the size of the gallery… where do you even start on that one…
And by the way, Chos?n was a vassal of the Ming and then Qing empires. I don’t know what these people think vassal state means but if you recognise the sovereignty of the Ming/Qing emperor and provide him with vast amounts of tribute each year then you’ve a about got it.
Aaarghh
Vassal State is as vassal state does.
In Korea/Chosun/Whatever, a land with less than a twentieth the territory, a twentieth the population, and a twentieth the cultural diversity of China, and where the Yi dynasty rulers were forced to send annual emmisaries and tribute to China, how can anyone say with a straight face that they were not a vassal state of China?
What does the “Independence Gate” prove if not that Koreans at the end of the 19th century finally grew weary of being a vassal state and decided to do something about it. If they weren’t a vassal state up to that point, why build the gate at all?
This constant Korean whining about how western-museums-make-us-look-bad should really be rethought. The history behind it all won’t change with a larger exhibit space. It’s time to learn to live with it. Focus on the many positive accomplishments made despite the “hardship” or whatever of being a vassal state; a shrimp among whales, and stop the constant belly-aching.
Ulchi Mundok was a long damn time ago and he ain’t coming back to save you this time.
Yeah, I should clarify. I haven’t actually seen the Korea exhibit at the BM but whatever problems it may have Victoria and Albert Museum is worse than anything else could possibly be.
I’ve often thought that a problem with the vankers is that they’ve spent a lot more studying English than Korean history.
Can somebody PLEASE point out to Koreans that the Indian Ocean does not belong to India?
Likewise, nobody really thinks the Sea of Japan belongs to Japan.
Nobody insists that the Yellow Sea be called the “West Sea,” even though it follows the same method of translation (????, ?????, ??????????…).
The English Channel doesn’t belong to England, and even France knows this. The French, also, have never as far as I know demanded that Koreans change their language to call it the Northern European Channel.
The VANKers may have studied English more than Korean history, but their misunderstandings of both are equally embarrassing, and their audacity in telling English speakers what to say is offensive.
This is Korea. Facts, much like laws, don’t mean anything. here. However, do the Vankers realise that everytime they start a campaign like this they do not improve Korea’s reputation? They are met either with indifference, as the average WEsterner could not care less what they have to say, or in some cases where they have any effect, they HARM Korea’s reputation.
[sarcasm]I think some of us waygooks should start our own organisation to DEMAND that the Korean people refer to the United States and United Kingdom by their proper names! Non of this ????? and ????? nonsense! There is no basis for those words. I want to see them have to write out ????????? (no shortcut ?? there)??? ????????? and ?????????? ???? ???? ???????? ??????? ??? ????? ?????????. [/sarcasm] What would the reaction be? Anybody care to hazard a guess?
Just have to play devil’s advocate in this time. These cyber-diplomats are only a very small minority of Korean internet users. Surely not all Koreans are as concerned over such a trivial issue as this.
Yes I know, that wasn’t much of a passionate defence, but one can only go so far with the material they are given.
The British Museum’s Korea hall was established by the Korea Foundation (http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/korea/), which is a semi-governmental organization in Korea. The VANKers outdo themselves in their displays of ignorance with each passing year.
VANK RULEZ. Judging from the poll on the main Arirang TV site (bottom left) they’re going to recruit all the SE Asian fans of POPS IN SEOUL to evangelize in the name of Our Lord Tangun.
Speaking of Arirang, the dude who hosts the weird Quiz Champions show (where Korean kids compete against other Korean kids - definitely VITAL for for those watching Arirang hoping to gain insight into Korean culture) was the featured bachelor du jour on Singles In Seoul the other day. He was as exciting on that program as he is on his show. Meaning “not”.
Jeez Yangster, I thought my social life was poor, but yours is positively autistic…
“Like the bible saying, “Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.”
If you make friends with a foreign friend,
World 6 billion people will love my friend’s country, Korea.
If you make friends with a foreign friend,
70 million of Korean people will love my friend’s country, Korea.
Then the Korea, the country where we can share Dreams, Friendships with the rest of the World, will be come true.
1. What is VANK?
VANK stands for “Voluntary Agency Network of Korea”. VANK were established on January first, 1999, by a christian who have a vision which could change Korea significantly.
By now we consist of more than 13,000 volunteer people.”
Huh? What was that about them studying English too much? What the heck are they saying? All I know is 13,000 people are doing it… I read someone on some blog (see how specific I am?) talking about Korean Christian missionaries teaching people to become as much Korean as they do Christian (something about Mexican kids memorizing the dwen-jang commandments). I don’t know if that’s true, but I can’t see why a Christian organization sees it necessary to teach the world to “recognize Korea as their friendly country like an intimate friend.”
“…more essential problem is that foreigners don’t love Korea.” Hmmmmmm…. Well, presonally, I love it here~
vank’s right on the money since calling korea a vassal of china doesn’t tell the full story. here’s the real story:
korea was a vassal of china in name only.
now, would it have been hard to write it like that? simply calling chosun a vassal implies that korea was just a province of china which it was not.
‘facts, much like laws don’t mean a thing..’
i’ll bet you’re a bush supporter, no?
someone said “Can somebody PLEASE point out to Koreans that the Indian Ocean does not belong to India?”
Bet India would be pretty pissed if everyone started calling it the Sri Lankan Ocean.
Hardy har har, Oranckay.
Take out Sri Lanka, you still got an ocean.
Take out Japan, you ain’t got no sea.
Now granted, take out the Indian Subcontinent and its still oceans aplenty, but doesn’t this mean that the name “Sea of Japan” is even more apt that “Indian Ocean” or “the English Channel?”
How about the Adriatic Sea? It only belongs to the Sons of Atreus!!!
?????????? said: korea was a vassal of china in name only.
Wrong. Korea WAS a vassal state. Korea paid tribute to China (including sending virgin women) and the Korean King put his forehead to the ground every year to the emissary send from China. The Korean King wore red because only the Chinese emperor could wear yellow. The Korean state philosophy was Confucianism because the Chinese told them to adopt it. Old Korean flags have the characters ‘vassal state of China’ in them. Koreans used to have an ‘Arc of Gratitude’ to the Chinese before they got independence (secured by Japan). Then they turned it into the independence gate - independence from what? China!
??????????, you are a kyopo with a seriously warped sense of history.
Orankay, I think the better comapriason would be if everyone called it the “Pakistani Ocean” THAT would give the Hindus the fits!
I agree, Chos?n was (by my definition) in a vassal-suxerain relationship with the Ming and then Qing dynasties. But let’s not misunderstand what this means - it should not imply in any way that Chos?n wasn’t independent of China in almost every way. This relationship operated mostly on an ideological level (although of course it was still a very powerful factor in shaping the course of Korea’s history).
I think part of the problem here is that these vank people and perhaps the contributor above, are confusing this type of relationship with modern ones such as colonialism or client state type relationships. This is completely different to the meaning of vassal state in the context of the premodern East Asian (Sino-centric) world order.
Having discussed this issue with a friend the other day, I did concede that perhaps this sort of statement about the history of Korea should be ‘hedged’ or contextualised so that people don’t make the same mistake. I can’t remember the actual context of the reference to Chos?n as a vassal in the BM Korea gallery. Since I work pretty much next door I’ll go and have a look in the near future.
oops… should be ’suzerain’ in first line.