Korean Job Discussion Forums

stevemcgarrett · Joined: 24 Mar 2006

This just off the A.P. wire:

Smee · Joined: 24 Dec 2004 Location: Jeollanam-do

It's disgusting. This topic has been in a number of posts on this board.
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=78305
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=79627

Another new development in K-education:

stevemcgarrett · Joined: 24 Mar 2006

Smee:

Thanks for the heads-up. Didn't notice it had been threaded. Apologies to YuBumsik and JeJitSu. Didn't mean to usurp their posts.

Let me take a different angle on this sordid affair.

How could a South Korean professor put his name to this sort of rubbish? Moreover, how could the editorial board ignore it?

Jingoism is on the rise throughout East Asia, I'm afraid. Korean claims to civilization demonstrate their insecurity; it is well established that Chinese civilization not only predates it but contributed to it. But then the Japanese are in denial on that score too. Well, then again, as my thread title hints at, there is a coterie of rightwing professors in Japan who are still whitewashing Japanese wartime atrocities in China.

Of course, the French and Russian press slips on this issue from time to time too. Anti-semitism is alive and well it would seem. Small surprise then that Israeli foreign policy is so quick to be called into question in Europe and elsewhere. The Israelis still do not have a real embassy in Beijing either. They operate from an office in the World Trade Center. Pathetic.

kaizer · Joined: 03 Feb 2007

gyopos should stfu.

Passions · Joined: 31 May 2006

Why does this concern Korean-Americans? Why do they get all their panties bunched up because of it? Rolling Eyes

gang ah jee · Joined: 14 Jan 2003 Location: city of paper

How many schools was this 'textbook' being used in, stevemcgarrett?

doggyji · Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2007 2:42 pm Post subject:

먼나라 이웃나라 series? They are not textbooks.

Captain Corea · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Location: Seoul

Aye, since when did these become text books??

JongnoGuru · Joined: 25 May 2004 Location: peeing on your doorstep

No, they're not textbooks, they're essentially big comic books. But they're apparently very popular ("best-sellers" they've been called) and I recall seeing them in stores everywhere for just ages. When were they first published? I may be mistaking them with a different series, but I seem to remember seeing the title in the '90s.

So, why wasn't a big stink made over this book before now? Well, part of it is the question of Where do you begin? There are plenty of publications bound to raise hackles, this is just one. Prevoiusly, there just weren't many whiteys taking an interest in what Koreans said or wrote amongst themselves. A lot of the really, really old-timers were/are often patronising, but ultimately more forgiving of a lot of the crap Koreans get up to. No-one was calling them on it. That seems to be changing, however.

But still, these things take time, and note that it was't the Koreans -- who've had a decade to consider 먼나라 이웃나라 -- who blew this particular whistle, was it? (Why doesn't VANK look into such things if they truly care about Korea's international image?) And the Korean-American group, whatever they're saying, seem up in arms not over the book being offensive to Jews, but rather out of fear of a potential fall-out for them that the negative publicity over the book may cause. And it's funny, is it not, that the Korean publisher apologises to the Korean-American group (presumably for the difficulties the book may cause THEM) rather to a Jewish-American organisation. They appear as clueless in their attempts to solve the problem as they were in recognising the problem in the first place.

Hater Depot · Joined: 29 Mar 2005

I remember reading that it's sold over 10 million copies.

Demonicat · Joined: 18 Nov 2004 Location: Suwon

**Rant Warning**

How many of you have books with Africans being described as people with bones through their noses, or wearing loincloths?
How many of you have books with Native Americans (American Indians) being shown wearing featherhats and living in teepees?
How many...add other classic rascist thing seen everyday...

It has happened to almost every race here, that they get insulted a little bit. Hell, it happens in the US too- remember Speedy Gonzales, or the two crows on Hanna Barbara? Why is it that whenever anyone in the world makes an anti-semitic comment, the world goes up in arms? Hell, why is Mel Gibson being crucified over the passion? Or his drunken slurs? The man also insulted the police, Los Angeles, and damn near everyone else- but those were just the booze talking.
I should mention that I im in no way anti-semitic, but the fact remains that in this world you can do no worse than make fun of jews. If you do, the world will come down on you. Hmm, maybe they do control the media.

gang ah jee · Joined: 14 Jan 2003 Location: city of paper

Troll_Bait · Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2007 5:07 pm Post subject:

This has made international news, in both the International Herald Tribune and CNN.

Anti-Semitic comic book in Korea stirs anger in the U.S.

Korean comic author: Jews rule U.S.

And as Smee pointed out, this has been the topic of two previous threads.

I'm wondering why an apology was sent to the Korean-American community and not to some actual Jewish people.

Edit:

In case you would like to see for yourself some of the offending images and its translated caption ...

JongnoGuru · Joined: 25 May 2004 Location: peeing on your doorstep

Was the 9-11 stuff in the first edition? If so, then this obviously isn't the same series of books I recall seeing 10 years ago. Still, I have definitely seen 먼나라 이웃나라 at plenty of bookshops for several years, the most recent time being at the airport. So when this story broke, the title, at least, was immediately familiar. I'd never perused the books, though I think even if I had, I may not have been particularly shocked.

stevemcgarrett · Joined: 24 Mar 2006

Dean Martin: