Comments on: It’s official: Rhie Won-bok’s an ass

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:46:36 +0000

Professor Rhie’s comments seem academically weak, rather than mean-spirited. They are not appropriate for children to learn about the US.

Robert’s commnts are mean-spirited.

By: Prose Before Hos » The Pledge of Resistance

Prose Before Hos » The Pledge of Resistance — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 16:38:17 +0000

[...] in our name will you invade countries bomb civilians, kill more children letting history take its course over the graves [...]

By: The Marmot’s Hole » Publisher to pull anti-Semitic comic, but Rhie still an ass: AP

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 12:41:03 +0000

[...] [Marmot’s Hole] to Korean-Americans for making Jews angry at them and then told CNN that everything he wrote about Jews was true [Marmot’s [...]

By: The Marmot’s Hole » Publisher to pull anti-Semitic comic, but Rhie still an ass: AP

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 12:41:03 +0000

[...] [Marmot’s Hole] to Korean-Americans for making Jews angry at them and then told CNN that everything he wrote about Jews was true [Marmot’s [...]

By: OneFreeKorea » Wiesenthal Center’s Associate Dean to Speak on Anti-Semitic Korean Comic at Seoul Grand Hyatt Tomorrow

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:57:15 +0000

[...] will recall that Rhie Won-Bok’s response to this was to allege that his Jew-baiting propaganda was “based on fact and ‘commonly [...]

By: dogbertt

dogbertt — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 00:12:15 +0000

The publishers came out in the fish-wrap yesterday and said that the misunderstanding were a result of poor English skills.

Whose poor English skills?

If Mr. Lee’s, then he certainly has no business writing a book explicating American society to Koreans.

If the publisher’s, it has no business printing books in English at all.

By: Maddlew

Maddlew — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 23:58:06 +0000

The publishers came out in the fish-wrap yesterday and said that the misunderstanding were a result of poor English skills. They apologized and they named a target for their apology. That has nothing to do with inadequate communication abilities. If they had wanted to apologize to the Jewish community they would have said so in whatever language they had chosen.

By: usinkorea

usinkorea — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 15:32:55 +0000

It wouldn’t suprise me if the Diary of Anne Frank isn’t taught with much historical context in South Korea if they teach the book.

We pay attention to that in the West because the Holocaust is one of the darkest moments in our history. There is a collective sense of shame for several reasons some of which are: we knew from the start that Germany was not the only place in which anti-semiticism was openly held by significant portions of the people. It was common across Europe and in the US. We also knew the the cultures that made up Western Europe (and then America) had a very long history of anti-semiticism going back centuries.

So, we take the lessons of the Holocaust to heart much more than what you probably find elsewhere in the world.

By: Maddlew

Maddlew — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 15:21:53 +0000

That’s precisely how it started in Germany in the 1930’s, Estebanko. That kind of scapegoatism. “Just when the average German citizen is about to rise up and gain their rightful place in this world they run into the Jew who controls all the money.”
This sort of crap is how it begins. It seems innocuous. Yet slowly it breeds resentment which festers over years, decades. Add a depression and watch out! Who are they going to choose to be the human cockroaches?
Luckily, the Korean economy is fairly strong but this type of thinking doesn’t have to produce pogroms to hurt. It manifests in more subtle ways sometimes.
What I find hopeful is the number of Koreans I’ve talked to who are quite amazed by this and do not share his views. What I find discouraging is the number who have become Prof. Rhie’s spin doctors.
I can’t believe somebody didn’t get to him in time and tell him to shut his pie-hole. The University should have been doing damage control and advising this guy that his odor is stinking up the place.

By: estebanko

estebanko — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 09:18:43 +0000

When I attended grade school in Korea it was a required reading. So pretty much everybody in school read it(Diary of Anne Frank). Unfortunately though almost all attention was paid to the tragic circumstances of the girl almost like a soap opera meant for kids rather than teaching some historical context at that time. Although I understand that the subject might have been too traumatic for kids.

I’ve told several people about this already and will say it again. I think Mr. Rhie’s books are extremely dangerous especially because all parents and educaters alike recommend the series to kids as ALL historical FACTS. A conservative estimate would be: 75% facts and 25% Mr. Rhie’s opinion disguised as facts. Too bad my teachers were one of them thus brain washing me in early age Now I wouldn’t wipe my ass with his irresponsible rubbish.