Granted, I know North Korean officials must feel pretty uncomfortable when they visit the South, being surrounded by incontrovertible evidence of their massive failings and all, but still, you’d think they’d be able to refrain from taking cheap shots at their southern brothers’ "cultural impurity" while they’re here:
When Kwon Ho-ung, senior North Korean Cabinet Councilor, was visiting Cheju Island as head of Pyongyang??s delegation to the inter-Korean Cabinet talks last week, he expressed discomfort at the signboards on shops around the southern resort island.
"What is this English abbreviation, CJ? Why did you name it in English?" were Kwon??s first words when he and other members of the communist country??s delegation arrived at a golf club named "CJ Nine Bridges" at Mt. Halla for lunch Thursday.
Kwon??s Southern counterpart, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, tried to explain: "It??s to do business with foreigners. It makes it easier for foreign guests and tourists in this era of globalization."
But Kwon was not satisfied. "I wasn’t feeling sure that we were in our own country at all, seeing all these English signboards on restaurants along the way," he said. "Why don??t you put a signboard for foreigners and another one for our own people as well?"
At this point, Comrade Chung should have simply explained that in South Korea, most people can read the signs, because the education system isn’t designed to keep the population in an infantile state. But I guess that would have been unbecoming of the host.
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That commie stooge Chung Dong Young again..
sigh…
You skipped the really scary parts:
Difficult Chinese phrases and the use of words of foreign origin are “toxins that destroy the character and purity” of the Korean language and undermine the peoples sense of independence, [the Minju Chosun] said, calling for a ban on the use of borrowed words.
Maybe Comrade Chung should propose a joint five-year plan to root out these cultural impurities. In Korea, count on life to imitate satire:
In consideration of the growing difference in language, the two Koreas agreed to officially support joint efforts to publish a dictionary of South and North Korean language during ministerial talks in September this year. Civic groups are currently working on the project.
Civic groups? I take it we’re talking some collective of Hanchongryon, VANK, and the Rodong Sinmum? Say goodbye to choco-pies, name cards, hand p(h)ones, and VIP lounges. One wonders how they’ll deal with “aspiration,” “vote,” “profit,” “freedom,” and my personal favorite, “bootylicious.”
“Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year. In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.”
— George Orwell, 1984
I wrote this at Nomad’s, but since you’re carrying the same story…
Uh-oh. Sounds like the English teachers and their students are first against the wall when the revolution comes.
Damn. No one should never have helped translate all the Bruce Cumings books… now they don’t need us English speakers anymore.
“Its to do business with foreigners. It makes it easier for foreign guests and tourists in this era of globalization.”
More Chung nonsense. The English used for commercial purposes here is quite obviously meant primarily to enhance domestic appeal.
On this point I agree with our Nork visitor. Why just the other day I also felt I wasn’t in my own country when I saw one of those ‘English’ signboards, especially the one for ‘Dunkin Dognuts’.
dogbert wrote:
“Its to do business with foreigners. It makes it easier for foreign guests and tourists in this era of globalization.”
More Chung nonsense. The English used for commercial purposes here is quite obviously meant primarily to enhance domestic appeal.
Far be it from me to come to Chung’s defense, but they were on Chejudo, at a and they were talking about a golf club that hosts an internationally recognized golf tournament. Yes, in this case, explaining why “CJ Nine Bridges” chose to write a bunch of stuff in English would necessarily include “doing business with foreign guests” and “making it easier for foreign guests.”
On the other hand, if they were in Chongno or some place like that, then that explanation might miss the mark a lot (because, as you said, the appeal to Koreans is a big factor in most places).
I see your point, but “CJ” is used by Cheil Jedang not only in connection with its golf course in Cheju-do, but everywhere.
I wonder if the comrade also commended Chung for not dying his hair (at least a color other than black).
Perhaps his southern hosts neglected to inform him the course was designed by a club weilding Yankee imperialist (Ron Fream) who happens to speak English?
Uh-oh. Sounds like the English teachers and their students are first against the wall when the revolution comes.
Matthew, Isaac — for your crimes against the Korean minjok you are hereby sentenced to death.
But Kwon was not satisfied. “I wasn’t feeling sure that we were in our own country at all, seeing all these English signboards on restaurants along the way,” he said. “Why dont you put a signboard for foreigners and another one for our own people as well?”
Would the councilor then agree that Korean-language signage found worldwide is likewise a confusing cultural pollutant?
“Matthew, Isaac — for your crimes against the Korean minjok you are hereby sentenced to death.”
LOL
I’m a cultural imperialist. I teach guys in my office English slang like “fucktard” and “asswipe.” So let that asswipe fucktard Chung apologize for letting people like me in the country.
This is pretty amusing - having the biggest part of the Korean vocabulary borrowed from Chinese is fine, but a few scattered English words are verboten.