The Chosun is reporting that FM Song suffered a “foreign relations slight” by the Israelis during his visit there. Among the perceived “slights” are the incorrect Korean flag(pic below) and the official car which according to the Chosun had scratches on the doors and was missing a “V” in the ”Volvo” nameplate.
The Chosun is speculating that the Israelis were expressing their unhappiness for Song visiting the Palestinians before the Israelis. However the ROK MOFTA is saying that it was the Israelis who suggested that FM Song visit Palestine first. It has also acknowledged the lapses in protocol.
The Israelis have reportedly apologized to the ROK government for the mishaps.
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The flag is what you get for not being a first-class diplomatic power — no stock of Korean flags available for purchase by the Israeli government (anywhere in the Middle East, it seems), so they had to have a class of fifth-graders make one.
As for the missing “V” in Volvo, thank goodness the Korean government has staff available to check and take appropriate notice of these things.
Perhaps they should apologise for building a “wall of jews” in america while they’re at it.
http://gardjola2.blogspot.com/.....sia-i.html
Thank goodness they didn’t change the letters around so that the FM was riding around in a “Vulva.” They may not have caught that one.
What- fifth graders from Korea? If the flag wasn’t at the front of the classroom to look at, they would not be able to make it (my high schoolers couldn’t), too. That’s why we practice that. Also, we practice how to explain what the flag means to foreigners (and Koreans).
Was it also Israel’s fault when Chongwadae had an incorrect Taegukgi inside for all those months?
In case anyone had forgotten about Noh’s faulty flag, here it is. http://english.chosun.com/w21d.....20029.html
Remember this?
http://www.holyducttape.com/ttr/worldseries92.jpg
If I were Korean, I’d be upset as well. I’m not saying the Israeli’s did it on purpose, I’m just saying they were sloppy.
Hmm. Nazi bars in Korea. Payback is a b#tch.
i remember way back in 1992 when the Blue Jays won the world series. During the opening ceremony in Atlanta, the Marine color detail walked out with the canadian flag upside down. embarrassed, the same detail asked to carry in the canadian flag during the mirror ceremony north of the border in Toronto. They got it right, of course, and we’re duly cheered.
but the debate rages today (well, not rages but, I still wonder…): How could a group of soldiers who basically only train for those few short moments, who are renowned for their precision, how could they fuck that up?
Conspiracy? or just a simple mistake?
Jeez — sometimes a mistake is just a mistake and has no deep significance. The universe is a busy place and one of those three laws (entropy?) tells us that left to themselves things tend to naturally run down and deteriorate.
As far as the flag goes, the protocol department of Israel’s Foreign Ministry is probably a small operation and may have had a lot of things on its mind at the time. If I were an ROK foreign minister, I might be inclined to get on the case of my own Tel Aviv embassy personnel, to ask them why they didn’t work with the Israeli diplomatic protocol service ahead of time to check on this type of detail in order to avert this type of minor but publicly embarassing slip-up. After all, examples given in the prior posts would seem to indicate that errors involving the complicated-to-western-eyes-lettering on the official ROK flag are not unprecedented.
Is that type of attitude too “American” of me? Of course if the ROK embassy had made an attempt and been rebuffed by tolerantly amused Israeli protocol personnel that would be different.
But getting upset about a Volvo with scratches and a letter missing? I wonder if FM Song spent any time in his country’s ground forces, it helps to give you perspective on this type of thing (you’re grateful for a vehicle that works properly and gets you where you’re going).
A small country like Israel shouldn’t be expected to have the budget for lavish limos for all, though again I suppose we need to know more context (whether the Volvo was part of a fleet of Volvos/comparable type vehicles used for the officially arriving diplomats of nations of similar size to ROK).
Thank goodness the Foreign Minister didn’t have to hail a cab (oy vey, if it had been the Jewish Sabbath he might have had to walk, now that would have been an insult worthy of writing home about….)
I think the whole flag thing was an honest mistake/accident. Were the antisemetic comics published here a mistake/accident or done on purpose? I wonder…
#9 mjw: Great minds think alike; I was remembering that incident as well though I thought it had been in New York state somewhere and I couldn’t have come up with the exact year off hand.
The solution of course would have been to anticipate a future of blundering Yank military color guards — by Canada electing back in 1965 to stick with its traditional Red Ensign standard. Almost impossible to make a mistake and display that upside down, it just wouldn’t have looked right even in the eyes of the most ignorant US military private soldier/NCO/junior officer one cares to imagine.
Btw — in your #9 you forgot to capitalize the “C” in Canadian — and more than once!
Was that a simple mistake — or a sly attempt to slip in a subtle dig at the proud Canadians who comment here on occasion? Hmm, the world wonders…
Most of the reporting and talk I recall hearing in Canada at the time of the World Series flag episode had less to do with the country being insulted and more to do with how our good neighbours – to nobody’s surprise, of course – were too dumb to get our flag right. Which, as you can imagine, generated far more laughter than anger. We Canadians tend to have a morbid fascination with Americans not knowing jack shit about us, and the flag episode was one of those episodes that seemed to confirm this. (This may reveal a sense of national insecurity, but at least most of us have the capacity to be self-depricating.) It might annoy us at times, but American ignorance – real and perceived – about most things Canadian is also something that makes some of us feel superior, as silly as it may be.
I don’t get anything remotely close to that impression from this story or other supposed slights to Korea on the international stage. Episodes involving Korean flags, VANK complaints about textbooks or websites, etc. are dealt with in very serious tones. Not a hint of humor.
My friend would tell us stories of American tourists coming into his family’s store on Cape Breton (don’t ever ask a stupid question to a Maritimer, especially a Cape Bretoner or a Newfoundlander, unless you want to be teased about it until your dying breath):
Q. “How did you get all these cars on the island?”
A.”Helicopters.” (You can drive on the island. That tourist must have flown in.)
Q. “Where are all the igloos?
A. “We keep them in cold storage until winter.”
Q. “You guys have TV on this island?”
A. “Sure we do. I used to make pocket change as a kid by going to my neighbors’ home and pedal the bike they had hooked up to the dynamo that powered their set.”
You mean you guys DO have an electrical grid — AND TV — up in Canada? Thank goodness, eventually you’ll all be able to watch FOX News channel and get your minds right.
I thought all you had over “US” were plenty of bottles of good Canadian whiskey (and Yukon Jack — “Born of the frosty Canadian winter nights, when lonely men struggled to keep their fires lit and their cabins warm”).
Note: quote is approximate — I’m ashamed to admit I don’t have an empty bottle handy. Hard times you understand, decline of the dollar vs the Canadian loonie etc etc.
Funny! What the columnist does not know is Israeli sloppiness.
I am sure it was not intended, just the regular Israeli “Everythink will be OK” Syndrome.
obviously i didn’t read the post above mine very clearly. chiamattt beat me to the punch and posted the picture of the upsidedown CANADIAN flag.
The Ministry of Perceived Slights and Absurd Overreaction is an observant bunch, eh? Well done, boys!
olvo?! And a flat tire?! Oh, the indignity of it. *face reddens as typing this comment*
That had better be one friggin’ sincere apology.
Cheer up brave Canadians! Don’t let those lengthy winter nights turn you into a gloomy Gus, eh?
You’re spending way too much time sighing over a 15 year old photograph while popping the tabs on an endless succession of Molsons.
Take heart from this 2 month old Maple Leaf flag photo instead.
Proudly on display high over the Pentagon! (The imperious source of the previous Maple leaf flag infamy, now humbly contrite before all the world). Hold your mouse on the photo for a moment to get the details.
That IS the permissive-gun-law-state of Virginia down there, you know (not highly-restrictive-Canadian-gun-law-style DC). I was pleased (though somewhat surprised) to learn that not one irate FOX-news-watching-gun-owning Virginian — still fuming over this — grabbed his shootin’ arn to blast away skyward.
(Their simple minds were probably confused by the clever Canadian change of national colors since 1814 — in fact, many if not most Virginians, looking up, may well have thought it was the flag of our 51st state).
The “missing links” for #19:
“…Maple Leaf flag photo… ” = http://canadianally.com/ca/
“…still fuming over this…” = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Warof1812.jpg
My primary objective for post #19:
not to gently needle brave Canadians (only a secondary obj) but to see if I could master another html tag technique.
Clearly I have more work to do (maybe a bottle or two of Clearly Canadian will help me see the light….)
‘The Ministry of Perceived Slights and Absurd Overreaction is an observant bunch, eh? Well done, boys!’
this from the people who go nuts when a westerner wears a hanbok or a korean record company forms a girl band.
and you wonder why i can’t stand you?
#20,
Ah, but you Americans and your war in Iraq…
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/.....07782.html
Whoops, never mind, eh?
I have a dream, Pawi…No, it’s not that Korean-Americans of your kind and expats in Korea learn to live in harmony.
No, no, no. It’s that you learn that the ‘Shift’ key isn’t just used to fire or run when you play games.
I’m not quite sure of your last point someguy, but I guess what you mean is that even though you disapprove of “our” war in Iraq nevertheless Canadians are participating — “so there” (?)
This is IMO rather a bit of “spin” on the part of the Toronto ST columnist. “Exchange” officer positions are common between all the NATO countries; in this case it’s entitled “Deputy Commander” but it doesn’t necessarily mean Gen Natynczyk is in a position to make significant command decisions affecting life and death issues involving III Corps.
Even if Gen N is present in Iraq long-term — if the III Corps US commanding general drops dead of a heart attack tomorrow, another US general will quickly be appointed as replacement (rather than Gen N serving out the remainder of the US commander’s normal term).
(And it’s not that Gen N wouldn’t be capable — I’m sure he’s equal in capacity if not better vs a vs the roster of his equivalent rank US general officers).
A genuine commitment to Iraq means a significant presence of Canadian troops on the ground there (as with your forces in Afghan). Not that I’m expecting this or even implying it should be (kimchipig grabbed me by the collar back in 2003 and gave me a thorough backhanding when I tried to argue the point with him & I’m not about to take it up again).
As proof of my point, a “search” for Gen N’s name at this Canadian mil blog turns up very little discussion of this particular “command” role of Gen N. (and I think these chaps of yours know their stuff):
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/
I commend this blog to you. If you’re looking to genuinely “one-up” me (instead of just engage in kidding about flag displays), here’s an example of the type of contribution by Canadian forces that you ought to be citing (besides Afghan). Something that the USAF couldn’t do and needed help with:
http://toyoufromfailinghands.b.....html#links
You’re a witty guy yourself, someguy.
Someguy’s humorous jab was aimed at Pawi’s absence of capital letters in his posts.
@21 I personally have no problem with Robert’s hanbok.
I’m referring to his #22 (which was in turn in response to my #19 & #20).
Nothing to do with what pawi said but I will second someguy’s point to him. Inexcusable to not even make an attempt at proper capitalization.
And no complaints about ESL! After all, it could be worse; in German every noun has to be capitalized regardless of its position in the sentence (if I remember correctly).
Is capitalization really the issue with that poster? What about addressing less cosmetic shortcomings in areas like like logic, reason and reading comprehension?
“I’m not quite sure of your last point someguy, but I guess what you mean is that even though you disapprove of “our” war in Iraq nevertheless Canadians are participating — “so there” (?)”
Mmm, no. I was poking fun at people who use the war to fuel anti-Americanism, especially those who are Canadian.
Am I opposed to the war? Yes, but I don’t like most wars anyways…and I used to be a soldier.
“A genuine commitment to Iraq means a significant presence of Canadian troops on the ground there (as with your forces in Afghan).”
Ah, but you miss a very important point: what politicians say and what goes on behind closed doors are two very different things. I’m sure there’s a few former members of CF who could enlighten you on that, but they’d get in trouble if they did.
Besides, the Canadian government and Canadian corporation are far more sympathetic than most people think. Remember, we also elected a conservative oil man.
http://redtory.blogspot.com/20.....aries.html
#29,
Reread his comment and mine. Read between the lines.
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