Well, when the Rodong Shinmun is running pieces like this, I guess these kinds of incidents have to be expected (Korean version via the Seoul Shinmun here):
The North’s delegation leader Maj. Gen. Kim Yong-chul started off an unfortunate thread by quipping, “Since the climate in the South is warmer, the farmers must be hard at work.” His South Korean counterpart Maj. Gen. Han Min-gu of the South replied, “The population of the farming communities is actually falling, and many bachelors from such areas marry women from Mongolia, Vietnam and the Philippines.”
Kim reportedly grimaced and snapped, “Our nation has always considered its pure lineage to be of great importance — I am concerned that our singularity will disappear.” Instead of contradicting him, the South Korean delegation said such dilution of the bloodline was “but a drop of ink in the Han River,” adding this would cause no problems “if we all live together.” But this failed to mollify the North Korean. “Since time immemorial, our nation has been a land of abundant beauty. Not even one drop of ink must be allowed to fall into the Han River,” Kim thundered.
Almost makes you feel bad for the North Koreans, now that the only way they can “score points” against the South is through race-baiting.


28 Comments
Almost makes you feel bad for the South Koreans who have developed beyond the North Koreans in so many ways, but when it comes to issues of ethnic understanding and tolerance are still very close to their “brothers” in the North.
Perhaps Maj Gen Kim could offer a daughter for a little farm lovin in the southern half of the DPRK.
Major General Kim needs to have a wave of Jurchen tribesmen or better yet, Mongols to play with so he won’t feel so lonely.
Or he could just drop his pants.
Amazing how certain ideologies deeply bind North Koreans, South Koreans, and kyopos despite their many other differencees.
Dogbertt—Does this ideology really bind the three? All the South Korean did was try to find a face-saving way out of an argument (which the North Korean, in typical North Korean fashion, refused to afford him). And at any rate, so many Korean men are getting married to foreign women that it would appear the ideological bond isn’t so tight. If we were talking about Korean women marrying foreign men, yeah, perhaps there’s a bond, but guys generally tend to be more forgiving (unless they’re North Korean and not Kim Jong-il) about their brothers stealin’ women from other tribes, no?
“Kim reportedly grimaced and snapped, “Our nation has always considered its pure lineage to be of great importance — I am concerned that our singularity will disappear.””
Farmers, in the rest of the world, are viewed as a bit backward/uneducated, but highly regarded by society, given they feed everyone with their labor. In fact, some of the smartest and nicest people I’ve ever met were farmers. In the last 50 years, with increased urbanization, it’s a common problem for farmers to find wives, independent of which country you live in. It’s a tough life living on a farm.
In so far as North Korea’s singularity disappearing -or- a single drop of ink spilling in the Han River, definitely keep: sending spies, publishing asinine rhetoric, counterfeiting U.S. currency, maintaining extreme class disparity, and opposing all nuclear inspections by the IAEA — You’ll be blown off this earth, if the masses don’t starve to death first.
That’s what we’re talkin’.
I think the North Koreans got their digs in about foreign men/Korean women during the Hines Ward kerfluffle; now it’s time to condemn the opposite.
KJI’s first wife was a Russian. He f***ed many Russian and European hookers. He may have some hidden love childs in Russia and Europe. Pure blood, my foot!
Remember a few years ago, Kim DaeJung’s love child appeared in Seoul and got paid millions by KDJ? The same kinds of bastards do the same things - lying, stealing, manipulating and f***ing cheap c***s.
having just spent a few days in that most confucian hub of asia (north kyoungsan province) it’s interesting to see that women are still not allowed to show any sort of affection publicly, yet there are massive amounts of foreign women who are married to the locals. it was interesting in that it has become such a fact of life that many ajummas now talk about how many foreign women they have as friends. from my POV, the assimilation of foreign women into korea is progressing extremely well in the ROK and is in deep contrast to any kind of mindset in the north.
Karyan Nation.
Yup, i have also witnessed a remarkable acceptance of it in the countryside — which used to be the most conservative areas of course…
“KJI’s first wife was a Russian. He f***ed many Russian and European hookers. He may have some hidden love childs in Russia and Europe. Pure blood, my foot!”
Why does he need hookers when he can snap his fingers to summon any chick in the country? I had heard stories when I visited the DMZ, that his father had all sorts of brothels/communes setup exclusively for his own use.
Because there are probably not that many white women in North Korea to be summoned.
In the original Korean article, the South Korean general is a bit less concilliatory to the North Korean general’s view.
This sentence got lost in the translation: “세계와 어깨를 나란히 하며 살아가는 게 아닌가 한다.”
Referring to how SK farmers marry foreign wives, “This is like living with the world shoulder to shoulder.” To which the North Korean general quips about racial purity.
With this sentence: ““한강 물에 잉크 한 방울 떨어뜨리는 수준이다. 주류가 있기 때문에 어울려 살면 큰 문제가 없다.”
Was translated to:“but a drop of ink in the Han River,” adding this would cause no problems “if we all live together.”"
I think it would have been better if it was translated to something like “It’s on the same proportionate level of dropping a drop of ink into the Han River. Because there is a main stem, it’s no problem when we live together.”
The translation makes it seem like the SK general is advocating that the SK & NK live together to “combat” the problem of racial “muddying”. What he seems to be saying is that since there is a large majority of Koreans, Korean identity would not be lost.
The last paragraph’s translation is really off.
It’s translated: “Our history shows that we were able to maintain the purity of the Korean race even while living together with the Jurchen…”
What he said was, “만주족과 함께 있으면서도 한민족의 정체성을 지켜 왔다.”고 맞섰다.”
That should translate to: “He countered by saying, “even living with the Manchurians, we kept our identity as Han people.”
So my point is that the South Korean General doesn’t sound as fascist as he sounds in the english translation. He’s a bit more stand-offish towards the NK General, at least according to the article.
The obvious play by play commentary:
First the SK General hints that agriculture is unpopular due to SK booming industrialization. NK General questions the price of industrialization at the cost of “muddying” the Korean purity. SK General responds that this is perhaps a way Korea is living harmoniously with the rest of the world. To which NK General questions the cost of globalization: the “muddying” of Korean purity. To which SK General hints at the myth of mono-ethnic identity, and how small groups of outsiders have always come to Korea, and that did not destroy Korean identity. To which the NK General states that Korean purity has been a holy self-evident fact since go-josun times and this meaningless conversation is over.
What I loved about this article is, how it pretty much sums up the entire NK-SK dialogue, and where each side wants to go. I just keep on thinking how much NK sound just like fundamentalist religious freaks, and when they can’t win the argument, they through a fit and claim “self-evident” truths and ends the conversation. No wonder they are afraid of Christian missionaries.
After unification the ROK will have millions of embarassingly unreconstructed ajossi bigots in its collective attic.
“It’s on the same proportionate level of dropping a drop of ink into the Han River. Because there is a main stem, it’s no problem when we live together.”
Yes, peace and harmony — with 35 years of rape by the Japanese of the Korean women. Pure bloodline, ah ok. I once heard that 1 in 8 Asians are descendants of Ghengis Khan. I suspect 1 in 3 Koreans are Japanese descendants. Dokdo isn’t enough, the Koreans ought to be pushing for Kyuusyuu too.
You’ve already exhorted white women to “to remember their own blood lines and what they have accomplished,” so you getting your crinlins in a wad about this is a bit much.
Is “crinlins” Konglish?
“I am concerned that our singularity will disappear.” Much like a black hole, which has a singularity from which no light escapes….
Virtual, norklandia is intentionally patterned after fundamentalist religions, that’s why the birthday of “eternal president” Kim Il-sun is called the “Day of the Sun.”
A: “Since the climate in the South is warmer, the farmers must be hard at work.”
B: “Hard at work banging Mongolian chicks is more like it.”
A: “Oh, like just because you get to bang Mongolians you think you’re cool?”
B: “I’m just saying.”
A: “I was only commenting on the weather and farming”
B: “And I was just saying how lucky we are with our Mongolian wives”
A: You’re ruining our race.
B: “As if a couple of…..”
A: “You’re not even Korean, you don’t deserve Dokdo, give it back to the pure Koreans!”
Crinlins= an old South expression meaning “petticoats,” or similar undergarments (cf. google image search. You should probably change into some nice, fresh, clean ones by now.
Is there any kyopo who can employ sarcasm effectively? Maybe that should be a component of the U.S. naturalization test.
Must we engage in gyopo bashing?
I think this is the major issue which the North is unwilling to reunify. That’s why it is what is now, a closed nation. If the foreigners don’t respect that, who they will respect? I’m sure you won’t oblige them to accept what they don’t want. It is to blame to the foreigners? Of course not, it’s the government that allow foreigners in the country.
If I were a foreigner, I don’t know, how I would deal with a country that is divided and detest foreigners.
“Must we engage in gyopo bashing?”
No, let’s just stick to making fun of Mizar5.
I guess the grand major general hasn’t actually seen the Han on the southern side recently, metaphors aside.
Wow, if the good general was that pissed about some farmers and their SE Asian wives then imagine how “ballistic” things might get if there was any mention of Korean women consorting with
western imperialist running dogs, I mean expats, eh?Meh, it’s just sour grapes. Race baiting is all he’s got now.
The irony of “white horses should remember their own blood lines and what they have accomplished,” vis a vis “I am concerned that our singularity will disappear” is particularly rich though.
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