Global Petitions

VANK’s Global Petition, targeting world’s largest petition site (change.org) with 400 million subscribers, is not only a way of informing Korea abroad, but also a diplomatic activity in which Korean youths take the lead in solving global problems that occur around the world. Through VANK’s Global Petition, anyone can easily inform people around the world of Korea’s position and gain cooperation and support from the global community, even if it is not through famous broadcasters and media. Also, if you search for the relevant petition topic on a global portal site such as Google, the search results will be exposed to promote the related petitions to people around the world.

In 1907, the Korean Emperor Gojong secretly dispatched a special envoy composed of Yi Sang-seol, Yi Jun, and Yi Wi-jong to the second Hague Conventions held in the Hague, the Netherlands to help the international community understand the illegality of the Eulsa Treaty(Japan-Korea Treaty of1905), which was forcibly signed by Japanese imperialism and to inform the restoration of Korea’s sovereignty. VANK’s Global Petition is an international diplomatic activity like the 21st century envoy to the Hague. We look forward to your active participation in VANK’s Global Petition that moves toward changing the world!

[Bridge Asia] platform

‘Bridge Asia’ is a brand new digital diplomacy platform made by VANK on Nov. 2021. In order for Asians to solve various issues in Asia, it features a petition platform called ‘Bridging Issues’.

Beginning with [The United Nations is not following the principle that it has made on its own], you can join our petitions through ‘Bridge Asia’ platform.

Bridge Asia Platform (shortcut)

⇒ Petitions from 2022 can be viewed on Bridge Asia Platform.

<How to join a petition @change.org >

– Click the petition link below. Then type your name and e-mail address, and click the ‘Sign this petition’ button.

<How to join a petition @Bridge Asia >

– Click the petition link below. Click ‘Sign the petition’, Sign up and click ‘Sign the petition’ button again.

Issues about Korea

https://www.bridgeasia.net/bridging-issues/view.jsp?sno=12

One would be called a looter if not return looted cultural assets.

Join the Global Petition so that the cultural assets looted by Japan could be returned back to Korea.

We have the right to be guaranteed the right to meet, study, and preserve our cultural heritage.

Countries like the UK and France has begun to return looted artifacts after acknowledging the rights of the country of origin.

On October 2021, Jesus College, Cambridge University, returned looted artifacts from 1890s in West Africa. Last year, the French National Assembly passed a bill that returns looted artifacts from Benin and Senegal 100 years ago, and they are now going through returning procedure.

On the other hand, Japan is taking the opposite way. Among 200,000 artifacts taken out of Korea, Japan accounts for 44 percent of the looted artifacts. Japan has been denying the illegality of Japan’s occupation of Korea, claiming that this is in accordance with international law and is not an illegal act, and arguing that Japan has acquired cultural assets through legitimate process.

Now the time has come for Japan to return looted assets to Korea. We request Japan to reflect on its conduct, investigate looted artifacts, and legislate a law that returns looted artifacts. Bring justice by doing this and promise a better future!

  1. UNESCO should acknowledge the rights of the original country of cultural properties.
  2. The Japanese government should investigate the source of artifacts that are suspicious of being looted before.
  3. The National Diet of Japan should legislate a law that returns looted artifacts.

https://www.change.org/squidgame_korea

Is it okay to peep into something fun?

‘Squid Game’, the Korean Netflix Original drama, topped in all 83 countries that provide Netflix. But in China, where Netflix is not provided, ‘Squid Game’ is being illegally distributed on a large scale.

China has been the largest illegal distributor of Korean contents over the past five years. However, the Chinese government is not taking any measures to prevent the damage suffered by copyright holders due to Chinese illegal distribution of Korean contents.

According to Article 15.28 of Korea-China FTA, both sides shall take effective measures to curtail repetitive infringement of copyright on the Internet.

Article 15.28: Measures against Repetitive Copyright Infringements on the Internet

  • Each Party shall take effective measures to curtail repetitive infringement of copyright and related rights on the Internet or other digital network.

We demand the Chinese government the following:

  1. National Copyright Administration of the People’s Republic of China (NCAC) should find out all Chinese web sites that illegally distributed contents, and issue an order to stop acts of infringement.
  2. Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS) should investigate personnel who illegally distributed contents, and punish those who violated copyright law.

https://chng.it/FJt5zSMhhT

Correct the errors and distortions on guidebooks for Seoul!

Which city comes to mind when you think of ‘Republic of Korea’?

It will probably be the capital city ‘Seoul’.

As of January 2021, the number of Hallyu(Korean Wave) fans around the world has exceeded 100 million for the first time ever.

Hallyu fans around the world naturally go beyond K-pop, K-movie, K-drama, and are now interested in many things related to Korea, including the lives, sentiment, and lifestyles of Koreans.

Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea, is the center of the spread of Hallyu culture.

By the way, could you believe it if a guidebook for people around the world who want to learn more about Seoul and travel Seoul is degrading and distorting Seoul, and delivering wrong information about Seoul?

Following the errors about Korea described in The rough Guide to Korea, Lonely Planet Korea, and Insight Guides South Korea that VANK discovered in January, errors in Seoul guidebooks published by world-renowned guidebook publishers are also becoming a big problem.

(relevant petition 1 : https://chng.it/FJt5zSMhhT )

(relevant petition 2 : https://chng.it/RXhmrzV5yW )

The Rough Guide to Seoul(3rd edition, 2018), Lonely Planet Seoul(9th edition, 2019), DK Eyewitness Travel Top10 Seoul(4th edition, 2019) are the most recent Seoul guidebooks published by Rough Guides, Lonely Planet, and DK respectively.

Rough Guides is a British publisher established in 1982 and has been publishing guidebooks of more than 200 places around the world, and this book is a famous travel guide for Europeans.

Lonely Planet has history that reaches up to fifty years, and is a famous tourist publishing company that has a reputation as a ‘Bible of travel publishing’. The company has been publishing Lonely Planet Seoul guidebook for more about 30 years since 1993.

DK(Dorling Kindersley), founded in 1974, is a well-known publishing company that has sold over 50 million copies of the DK Eyewitness series alone. In addition, from 2013 to the present, the company has been publishing Seoul guidebooks every two years.

After researching and analyzing the contents of Seoul guidebooks, more than 81, 19, and 30 errors and distortions about Seoul in each book has been revealed.

At this very moment, these books are being sold on various bookstores worldwide, each publishing company’s web site and through online shopping malls.

Typical errors are as follows.

(1) The Rough Guide to Seoul 3rd edition, 2018

▶ Introducing Seoul’s transportation system; “… cash is no longer accepted on most buses, …”

→ Still in 2021, you can pay by cash and hop on Seoul’s all buses.

▶ Introducing Korean beer (companies) such as Hite, Cass, OB; “None of them tasted very nice, largely due to the dubious preservatives used to lengthen the drinks’ lifespan – something in the same chemical family as formaldehyde.”

→ It is distorting Korean beers with completely groundless claim.

▶ Introducing ‘Gangnam Style’; “Psy had already been a big name here since his 2002 hit Champion, which caused a bit of a stir with expats thanks to what sounded like repeated mentions of the N-word (the actual lyrics meant something completely different, though the accident may have been intentional).”

→ The lyric mentioned on the description is “네가”, which literally means “you are” in Korean. Describing the song’s lyric as “intentionally disparaging black people” is an insulting expression which is very rude and exposing one’s ignorance.

▶ Introducing the music of seoul; “Seoul isn’t exactly renowned for the quality of its music. From pre-teen girls to bad-boy bike nuts, most of the country listens to sugary K-pop, generic hip-hop and little else.”

→ It is demeaning Seoul, the birthplace and center of K-pop.

▶ Introducing Daeseongdong village; “Technically residents have to spend 240 days of the year at home, but most commute here from their condos in Seoul to “punch in”, and get hired hands to do the dirty work;”

→ If the residents of Daeseongdong village do not spend 240 days in the village an year, they lose their residential right. The above statement is distorted and is an outrageous lie.

▶ Introducing modern and contemporary history of Korea; “Modern Korean museums and history books extol the achievements of what was, in reality, a largely toothless group. In doing this they gloss over the fundamental reason for Korea’s independence: the American A-bombs that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, …”

→ In this way, Korean freedom fighters and the Provisional government of Korea are degraded.

▶ Introducing Romanization of Korean alphabets; “The letter “a” is usually written as an “e” or “ae” in an unsuccessful effort to Americanize the pronunciation – “hat”, for example, will be pronounced “het” by the majority of the population, while to kowtow to American norms gimbap is often written “kimbob”.

→ It is demeaning the Korean alphabet ‘Hangul’, which is regarded as the “most scientific notational system, and its users, as if they kowtow to American norms.

(2) Lonely Planet Seoul 9th edition, 2019

▶ Introducing the language of Koreans; “Korean, English”

→ The official language of Korea is Korean only.

▶ Introducing Korean traditional holiday ‘Chuseok’; “Chuseok … perform sebae(a ritual bow)”

→ On Chuseok, Koreans do not perform sebae. Koreans perform sebae on Seollal(Lunar New Year’s day).

▶ Introducing Korean history; “For four centuries Baekje rules the peninsula until falling to the Goguryeo kingdom.”

→ Baekje ruled some parts of peninsula and did not fall to the Goguryeo kingdom. Baekje collapsed in AD 660 by allied forces of Silla and Tang.

(3) DK Eyewitness Travel Top10 Seoul 4th edition, 2019

▶ Introducing Gyeongbokgung; The halls and pavilions in the “Palace of Shining Happiness”, … are superb examples of Buddhist decoration.”

→ Gyeongbokgung is an example of Confucianist decoration because Joseon took Confucianism as its national ideology and led the entire society based on Confucianism. Very few parts of the palace building are decorated in Buddhist ways.

▶ Describing Blue House raid of 1968; “In 1968, it was the scene of an assassination attempt on the life of then-president Park Chung-hee. … Almost 100 were killed as the team tried, in vain, to head back to the DMZ.”

→ 29 of the 31 North Korean intruders were kileed. On South Korean side, 25 men of armed forces and 7 civilians lost their lives.

▶ Introducing Kimchi; “The outside world might think of kimchi as Korea’s national dish, although in reality it is only a side dish.”

→ Kimchi is not just a side dish. There are about 200 kinds of kimchi and kimchi is used in making many Korean dishes.

▶ Introducing Suwon Hwaseong Fortress; “This stunning fortress was built in the 1790s on the orders of King Yeongjo, …”

→ Hwaseong was built by the orders of King Jeongjo, the grandson of Yeongjo.

▶ Introducing the War Memorial of Korea; “Major wars have punctuated Korean history – the civil war in the early 1950s created North Korea and South Korea, two nations that are still in a state of conflict to this day.”

→ Korean War was an international all-out war. In the Korean War, 16 countries fought as UN forces only for the South Korean side. Also, the two countries (South Korea and North Korea) were not created because of the Korean War. Republic of Korea(South Korea) 1948.08.15. – present; Democratic People’s Republic of Korea(North Korea) 1948.09.09. – present

▶ Introducing Seoul’s transportation system; “In addition, a T-Money transport card is the only way to travel on city buses.”

→ Still in 2021, you can pay by cash and hop on Seoul’s all buses.

 

The typical errors and distortions above are chosen from each book that contains 81, 19, and 30 or more errors and distortions respectively. In addition to this, various errors and distortions are described in the guidebooks.

We have described correction details for each error with arrows(→). The above examples of errors are too obvious so that could be found very easily in the standpoint of Koreans. However, if somebody who does not know much about Seoul were to buy and read these books, there would be high probability that the foreigner would believe the errors and distorted contents in the guidebooks just as they are, and after that, the foreigners will visit Seoul with their heads filled up with misconception and prejudice. This might happen because these publishers are deemed to have public credibility.

Although The Rough Guide to Seoul is only 200 pages, more than 80 errors, distortions, and derogatory expressions are described, and the historic distortion expressions on The Rough Guide to Korea introduced above are substantially the same.

Lonely Planet Seoul was also largely identical to Lonely Planet Korea’s history and culture related errors

Interestingly, we confirmed that the author of The Rough Guide to Seoul and the lead author of DK Eyewitness Travel Top10 Seoul are the same person, and accordingly, errors, distortions, and derogatory expressions about Korea and Seoul appear to be described a lot in both books.

If it is a guidebook about Seoul, publishers should at least receive a review of the authenticity of the contents to be described in the guidebooks by a Korean or a Korea(n) expert, and should carefully check the contents and provide accurate information.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of tourists visiting Seoul has decreased more than ever, but on the contrary, the number of foreigners who are interested in such as Korean culture, people and history through the internet has increased than ever before. It is important to rectify these errors in guidebooks because these Seoul guidebooks are to be obtained and viewed by people from all over the world who are going to visit Seoul after this epidemic is over.

If the guidebooks about Seoul do not correct these errors, with the Korean Wave fever around the world, such as K-pop and K-drama, 100 million Korean Wave fans around the world will get false information about Korea and Seoul. And through this the increased interest in Korea and Seoul may be a bad chance to develop a distorted perception about Korea and Seoul.

Moreover, Lonely Planet is about to publish the 12th edition of Lonely Planet Korea and the 10th edition of Lonely Planet Seoul in December 2021. These errors must be corrected prior to publication of the revised editions.

Therefore, we request Rough Guides, the publisher of the 3rd edition of The Rough Guide to Seoul; Lonely Planet, the publisher of the 9th edition of Lonely Planet Seoul; and DK, the publisher of the 4th edition of DK Eyewitness Travel Top10 Seoul to correct errors and distortions about Seoul in the books.

First, Rough Guides, Lonely Planet, and DK should apologize for the errors and distortions on each books and promise to correct them.

First, after consulting experts on errors and distortions of each book, Rough Guides, Lonely Planet, and DK should determine whether the facts on the books are true or not, and then describe the revisions in the upcoming edition of each book.

https://chng.it/y6bnzTCTYM

YouTube should protect copyright of K-pops!

Does a Chinese hold copyright on IU’s songs?

It’s not just IU’s songs. The music copyright holders of YouTube videos that include songs of famous K-pop singers such as god, Toy, Younha, Brown Eyes are marked as Chinese.

This is a problem with YouTube’s slack copyright management system.

Under the copyright law, YouTube, which is an online service provider, is obliged to take certain measures to prevent copyright infringement on its site.

However, even though YouTube has been receiving reports by users of the slack system that the “Content ID” has been issued not to the actual copyright holder, but to unrelated Chinese, YouTube is not explaining how the Chinese infringed copyrights or how to prevent recurrent violations in the future.

YouTube says that copyright holders can automatically protect their copyrighted works by setting their Content ID.

Regarding qualification for Content ID, YouTube Help describes that copyright owners have to give evidence of the copyrighted content for which they control exclusive rights.

However, the Content ID of K-pop sound source has been issued to Chinese people who had absolutely nothing to do with copyright holders.

And YouTube is silent about how the Content ID was issued to the wrong Chinese people, not to the copyright holder.

We, who LOVE K-pop and regard copyright protection important, request Youtube the following:

First, YouTube should explain why the Content ID was granted to Chinese people unrelated to the copyright holder, which could have caused copyright infringement.

Second, YouTube should conduct its own investigation and announce the damage caused by the current K-pop Content ID being granted to Chinese people.

Third, YouTube should disclose future recurrence prevention measures and take technical security measures.

https://chng.it/SMvRhr7c6F

Designate “Getbol”, “Korean tidal flats”, as UNESCO World Heritage and protect them!

The West Sea(Yellow Sea) and South Sea of the Republic of Korea consists of more than 3,000 beautiful islands. And the “Getbol” or “Korean tidal flats” that encircle these beautiful islands stretch out broadly on the coast.

Korea’s Getbol are habitats for animals and plants and resting places for migratory birds.

Here lives a total of 2,150 animals and plants, with 47 indigenous species and 5 endangered marine invertebrate species.

This place is also one of the nine flyway sites. Korea’s Getbol, where 118 species and 300,200 migratory birds rest, is a key stopover for migratory birds in East Asian – Australasian Flyway.

Getbol is also of precious value to humans and the Earth.

Getbol itself is a natural breakwater that prevents typhoons and floods, and hundreds of millions of plankton live in Getbol of 1 gram, which produces a lot of oxygen and has the ability to purify pollutants.

Nevertheless, Getbol are disappearing due to global warming and human development.

Due to global warming, the temperature of the seawater rises, the sea level rises, and the Getbol are disappearing. By 2100, the average sea level rises by up to 73m, and all Getbol are on the verge of disappearing.

According to a research by the National Institute of Environmental Research and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea, Getbol which reached 3,200㎢ in 1987, decreased to 2,500㎢ in 2008 and continuously decreased to 2,482㎢ in 2018.

In order for the present and future generations to conserve Getbol transcend national boundaries, we ask the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to designate Getbol, Korean tidal flats, as World Natural Heritage.

World Heritage is a heritage of Outstanding Universal Value for all mankind, designated by the World Heritage Committee, and refers to a heritage listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

On the Article 49 of Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention defines Outstanding Universal Value as “cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity”.

Korea’s Getbol have natural importance that transcend national boundaries and must be protected and preserved by all humans of present and future generations.

Sign the petition and cheer for Korea’s Getbol to be protected as World Heritage!

https://chng.it/SMvRhr7c6F

Designate “Getbol”, “Korean tidal flats”, as UNESCO World Heritage and protect them!

The West Sea(Yellow Sea) and South Sea of the Republic of Korea consists of more than 3,000 beautiful islands. And the “Getbol” or “Korean tidal flats” that encircle these beautiful islands stretch out broadly on the coast.

Korea’s Getbol are habitats for animals and plants and resting places for migratory birds.

Here lives a total of 2,150 animals and plants, with 47 indigenous species and 5 endangered marine invertebrate species.

This place is also one of the nine flyway sites. Korea’s Getbol, where 118 species and 300,200 migratory birds rest, is a key stopover for migratory birds in East Asian – Australasian Flyway.

Getbol is also of precious value to humans and the Earth.

Getbol itself is a natural breakwater that prevents typhoons and floods, and hundreds of millions of plankton live in Getbol of 1 gram, which produces a lot of oxygen and has the ability to purify pollutants.

Nevertheless, Getbol are disappearing due to global warming and human development.

Due to global warming, the temperature of the seawater rises, the sea level rises, and the Getbol are disappearing. By 2100, the average sea level rises by up to 73m, and all Getbol are on the verge of disappearing.

According to a research by the National Institute of Environmental Research and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea, Getbol which reached 3,200㎢ in 1987, decreased to 2,500㎢ in 2008 and continuously decreased to 2,482㎢ in 2018.

In order for the present and future generations to conserve Getbol transcend national boundaries, we ask the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to designate Getbol, Korean tidal flats, as World Natural Heritage.

World Heritage is a heritage of Outstanding Universal Value for all mankind, designated by the World Heritage Committee, and refers to a heritage listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

On the Article 49 of Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention defines Outstanding Universal Value as “cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity”.

Korea’s Getbol have natural importance that transcend national boundaries and must be protected and preserved by all humans of present and future generations.

Sign the petition and cheer for Korea’s Getbol to be protected as World Heritage!

https://chng.it/6qrNwGfYqp

In 2017, at the time of the inauguration of French President Emmanuel Macron, he announced that France would return cultural assets that had been stolen from African countries.

Last year, the French National Assembly(Lower house) unanimously passed a bill to return cultural heritages that were looted over 100 years ago.

Now, determination by France is necessary for the eternal friendship between Korea and France.

President Macron has shown a different view of history from his predecessor since his days as a presidential candidate, defining French colonial rule in Algeria as a “crime against humanity”. And after taking office, the French government began to return cultural heritages that were looted in Africa by French army during the colonial rule.

In March 2018, President Macron commissioned special advisors to review the return of African cultural heritages and asked them to submit a report recommending amendment to the French National Cultural Heritage Laws.

In their report filed in November 2018, they stipulated that in the case of cultural heritages looted by the French army and the government on the African continent between 1885 and 1960, the cultural heritages must be permanently returned upon the official request by the government of corresponding country.

Now, the time has come for France to make a great decision to return permanently not only of the cultural heritages that were looted during the colonial rule in African countries, but also to the Oegyujanggak Uigwe that was plundered from Joseon during the time of imperialism.

France returned the Oegyujanggak Uigwe (a book that summarized the royal events of Joseon Dynasty in writing and painting), which was plundered during the French expedition to Korea in 1866 during French colonial empire, in the form of ‘permanent-loan’ to the Republic of Korea in April 2011.

However, it was not a ‘full return’. There was a condition that the rental(loan) had to be renewed every five years, and even now, the ownership of Uigwe is in the French National Library(BnF: Bibliothèque nationale de France), not the Republic of Korea, so the Republic of Korea cannot independently display and utilize it.

The Uigwe cannot leave the National Museum of Korea unless discussed with BnF.

Above all, because the Oegyujanggak Uigwe is not fully owned by the Republic of Korea government, it cannot be designated as National Treasure of Korea.

In 2016, the Uigwe of Joseon Dynasty in Korea that has been in Korea at all times, was designated as National Treasure, but because of the reason above, Oegyujanggak Uigwe was excluded.

If France changes the rental(loan) of Oegyujanggak Uigwe from a 5-year rental(loan) contract into a full return, France will heal the wounds of imperialism of the past and become a leading country that opens up the great future of the 21st century through the eternal friendship between Korea and France.

Hereupon we ask French government the following:

First, we request the French government to transfer of ownership of the Oegyujanggak Uigwe to the Republic of Korea.

https://chng.it/tnBp88hfzm

It is absurd to say that Joseon has been a subordinate state of China since the ancient times.

All these errors are from the brush tips of historians, and we need to correct these things.

– Zhou Enlai, ex-Premier of China –

If the Chinese government and Chinese nationals deny the words of their ex-premier, who would trust China in the future?

 

Baidu Baike should rectify its homepage’s history distortion of Goguryeo and Balhae!

The Baidu Baike encyclopedia of China’s largest portal site is being used as a propaganda channel for the Chinese government.

As of December 2020, the number of users who searched through Baidu, China’s leading search engine, reached 544 million, which proves its absolute influence.

However, the Baidu Baike is distorting the history of Goguryeo and Balhae, which are important periods of Korean history. Currently, in the introduction of Goguryeo in Baidu Baike states, “Goguryeo is a local government of China, and has no relationship of inheritance nor succession with Goryeo(Wang clan of Goryeo) at all.” Also, in the introduction to Balhae states, “Balhae is a regime in which the Malgal(Mohe) tribe was the main body, and in 698 it was established by Dae Jo-yeong, the head of Sok-malgal(Sumo-Mohe) tribe.”

<Introduction to Goguryeo and Balhae on Baidu Baike>

https://baike.baidu.com/item/高句丽/181650

https://baike.baidu.com/item/渤海国/1551268

The description of Goguryeo and Balhae of Korean history described on Baidu is consistent with the contents of China’s Northeast Project. The Northeast Project is a research project on the history and phenomena of Chinese northeastern border region promoted by Chinese government from 2002 to 2007 to make all the history unfolded within the current Chinese border into Chinese history. China is claiming the Korean history of Goguryeo and Balhae as the history of China in accordance with the Northeast Project. And even though the Northeast Project has ended, the research achievements of the Northeast Project are now known to the world through Baidu, China’s largest portal site.

History distortion regarding Goryeo and Balhae on Baidu is ridiculous.

Baidu argues that Goryeo has no relationship of inheritance with Goguryeo, based on the reason that the surname of Jumong, who founded Goguryeo, and the surname of Wang Geon, who founded Goryeo, are different. However, the logic that the same surname could succeed the country is groundless. This is because most of the previous dynasties, the Qin and Han emperors in Chinese history, also have different surnames.

It is also wrong to introduce the history of Balhae as Chinese history and Malgal(Mohe) tribe as the main body of Balhae. Even in the Chinese history book <the Old Book of Tang>, it is recorded that Dae Jo-yeong, the founder of Balhae, comes from a distinct branch of Goguryeo, and introduces Balhae as a country that inherited Goguryeo. Even the King Mun of Balhae introduces himself as “King of Goryeo”* in a soverign’s message sent to Japan. In addition, in 2005, a tomb of Balhae was discovered in the ancient tomb cluster of Mt. Longtou, and a monument to Empress Sunmok was found in one of the tombs. If Balhae had been a local government in China, the expression “empress” would not have been possible.

You may think that China’s Northeast Project and Baidu’s history distortion of Goguryeo and Balhae are just the opinions of scholars and that it may not be a big problem.

However, China’s Northeast Project is not simply a project to study and record the history of the region at the scholarly level. Rather, it is a project to incorporate the history of the neighboring countries of China into the history of China, ultimately reorganizing the world order centered on China, and to establish a subordinate relationship with the neighboring countries.

You may ask if it is too much of a concern.

In fact, China claims sovereignty over the South China Sea, citing records from the Chinese Han Dynasty in 200 B.C. Accordingly, the concerns of neighboring countries that fear that the next stage of history distortion and incorporation will be invasion and expansion of hegemony cannot be seen as excessive concern.

If you dream of international relations in which the sovereignty of each country is expressed fairly, please join us in raising concerns about the history distortion of the Chinese government, which seeks to cut off and absorb the roots of neighboring people and countries.

We demand the following:

First, Baidu Baike should rectify its homepage’s history distortion of Goguryeo and Balhae!

Second, the Chinese government should withdraw its history and cultural hegemony policies that ruin the friendly relations with neighboring countries!

 

*refers to Goguryeo

<Goguryeo and Balhae, the history of Korea>

http://usa.prkorea.com/korean-history2

https://chng.it/tnBp88hfzm

The Chinese Government should call Baidu to account for denying the words of its own premier who said that samgyetang is Korean food!

“If Korea’s samgyetang and its recipe is introduced to China, many people will enjoy it.”

– Li Keqiang, premier of the People’s Republic of China –

If China itself denies the words of its premier who said samgyetang is Korean food, who would trust China in the future?

On March 29, 2021, Baidu Encyclopedia, a famous Chinese encyclopedia, classified Korean samgyetang as Chinese Cantonese cuisine and home cooking.

Also, it described samgyetang as ‘a Chinese traditional Cantonese soup with Goryeo ginseng, young chicken, and glutinous rice. It was introduced to Korea and became one of the representative royal dishes of Korea. Koreans enjoy Samgyetang as a invigorating food on one of the three dog days of summer.’

Baidu encyclopedia claimed that samgyetang originated in Guangdong Province in southern China, but did not provide any evidence such as literature records.

The contents of the Baidu encyclopedia, which claims that Korean samgyetang originated in Guangdong Province in southern China, are wrong.

Samgyetang is a modern Korean dish that is boiled in an earthen pot with ginseng, glutinous rice, and jujube inside a chicken.

The Korea Rural Development Administration(RDA) explains that ‘whole chicken soup with rice(dak-baeksuk)’ was common in Joseon Dynasty, and that among the wealthy people in Japanese colonial era, there was a dish that put powdered ginseng in dak-baeksuk. The current form of samgyetang was formed after the 1960s and it became popular after the 1970s.

Despite the clear fact that samgyetang is Korean food, it can be speculated that the claim that China has spread samgyetang to Korea is due to the large number of similar hotpot dishes in the Guangdong province of China. Typically, ‘Laohuojing tang’, which is boiled chicken, pork, beef, and vegetables for a long time, is a hotpot dish in Guangdong province. However, most of the ‘Laohuojing tang’ recipes introduced are different from samgyetang in the way that pieces of chicken is put together with medicinal materials and boiled.

In addition, Korea manages the Samgyetang HS Code(Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System), but China’s national standards for classifying Samgyetang are not clear.

According to Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, Korea manages ‘Samgyetang(Samge-tang)’ by attaching the HS code ‘1602.32.1010’.

Above all, Chinese premier Li Keqiang, who visited Korea in 2015, said, “If Korea’s samgyetang and its recipe is introduced to China, many people will enjoy it.”

Even though the Chinese premier who represents China said that samgyetang is Korean food, if it is denied by the encyclopedia representing China, who is going to trust the information in the Baidu encyclopedia in the future?

 

This is not the first time Baidu encyclopedia distorted Korean foods.

In 2020, Baidu encyclopedia described “Kimchi originated in China,” and when Korea protested on this, the expression was deleted.

Since the end of 2020, cases of distorting Korean culture as a part of Chinese culture are rapidly increasing rapidly in China.

In China, the government, media, influencers, and netizens allied to claim that Korean kimchi, ssam, gat, hanbok, and pansori originated in China.

The background of China distorting Korean culture lies in China’s distorted perception of history, recognizing the entire history of Korea from Gojoseon to Joseon as the history of China.

In particular, China propelled the ‘Northeast Project’ from 2002 to 2007 in order to turn all the history that happened within the current Chinese border into Chinese history. Since then, China has promoted the Korean history of Goguryeo and Balhae as Chinese history in museums, art galleries, textbooks, and encyclopedias around the world.

Eventually, this distorted perception of history in China expanded to the cultural hegemony of China, claiming Korea’s samgyetang, kimchi, gat, and hanbok as Chinese culture.

China is not only distorting the history and culture of Korea but also ithe histories and cultures of other Asian countires, and in order to prevent history distortion and cultural hegemony of Chinese government, people from all over the world must protest against China.

Accordingly, we demand the following to inform that China’s cultural hegemony can pose a serious threat to world peace.

First, Baidu should correct the distorted expression that described Korea’s samgyetang as Chinese food.

Second, the Chinese Government should call Baidu to account for denying the words of its own premier who said that samgyetang is Korean food!

 

https://chng.it/VJBLnJmtFG

Recently, Chinese netizens terrorized more than 10,000 comments on a photo of a famous Korean celebrity Kim So Hyun wearing hanbok for Seollal(Lunar New Year).

They deny the traditional culture of Koreans and systematically leave disparaging curses with expressions such as “Koreans are photographed in traditional Chinese clothing” and “Thank you for loving traditional Chinese clothes”.

Also, regarding the posts by Korean NGO VANK promoting hanbok, their indiscriminate abusive and demeaning language, contempt and ridicule of Korean history and culture are continuing and the intensity is getting worse as follows: “dick head(狗头)”, “My grandfather is older than your country’s ‘everlasting’ history(我家中祖父的年龄尚且大于贵国“悠久”的历史)”, “Does Korea have history?(韩国有历史吗?)”

As such, it is presumed that the background of this reckless cyber comment terrorism of Chinese netizens include members of the Chinese Wumao Dang(Internet commentators, more known as “50 Cent Party” or “50 Cent Army”) and Xiao Fenhong that have been educated by Zhonghua(Chinese) nationalism.

The 50 Cent Party is a ‘part-timer corps’ that supports the Chinese Communist Party on the Internet and comments on anti-government public opinion. Recently, the Chinese government declared it would turn it into a military organization. Xiao Fenhong is a generation born after the 1990s, who received a lifelong “Zhonghua(Chinese) nationalism” education from the Chinese Communist Party, and is showing off the power of China, which has risen to the ranks of the G2, online.

The 50 Cent Party is committed to cyber-terrorism, denying the cultures of other ethnic groups and using racist expressions and hate expressions by absorbing the generation of Xiao Fenhong who had recently been educated with Zhonghua(Chinese) nationalism.

The contents of their cyber terrorism is mainly hate speech that violates the right to express the cultural identity of other peoples, and it corresponds to racial discrimination.

International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) defines “racial discrimination” as: any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.

Article 4 of the Convention obligates the States Parties to take punitive legislative measures on ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, incitement to racial discrimination, as well as all acts of violence or incitement to such acts. People’s Republic of China is also the accession state of the Convention.

The acts of enjoying and expressing Korean culture by Koreans are cultural rights protected by Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The 50 Cent Party’s acts of criticizing, despising, and mocking Koreans’ acts of enjoying and expressing Korean culture are acts of racial discrimination that violates the exercise of cultural rights.

In particular, despite the obligation to impose sanctions against racial discrimination, the Chinese government promotes and organizes such discrimination, which is a violation of international law committed by the state.

We are not denying that Korean culture was influenced by neighboring countries.

We have been influenced by the cultures of neighboring countries, and in the process, we just want to shape our culture and freely enjoy and express our culture as an expression of identity.

We are not trying to take away Chinese culture.

We are satisfied enough with our culture and respect the culture of our neighboring countries.

 

We request the international community of the following:

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination should recommend China not to violate the rights to enjoy the identity and culture of other peoples.

The Chinese government should ban racial discrimination and hate speech by its nationals who violate other peoples’ right to enjoy their own culture.

We demand ‘Thatgamecompany, LLC’ to carry out its company motto.

https://chng.it/qLCczpmTSv

“Thatgamecompany’s motto is to be ‘a game studio dedicated to creating timeless interactive entertainment that inspires human connection worldwide.'”

 

In order to inspire human connection worldwide, respecting cultural diversity is essential.

 

Nevertheless, Thatgamecompany is showing an attitude that ignores cultural diversity and gives in to China’s cultural imperialism.

 

The representative of ‘SKY:Children of the Light ‘, a mobile social adventure game developed and serviced by Thatgamecompany, announced the position that the ‘Dancing choreographer spirit’s hat’, a reminiscent of ‘gat’, as ‘Chinese hat’.

 

The item is originally designed in a similar shape to the Korean ‘gat’, and the clothes worn together remind us of ‘durumagi’, a traditional Korean overcoat, of Korean hanbok. Unlike the global server, on the Chinese server, the item was originally designed as a traditional Chinese hat rather than the shape of ‘gat’. Regarding this, Chinese users protested; “Isn’t the company recognizing ‘gat’ as a unique culture of Korea because the design of ‘gat’ is in a different appearance only on the Chinese server?”

 

When Chinese users protested against the company and demanded for an explanation, Thatgamecompany even changed and added a description of the item ‘Hat of Ming Dynasty in CHINA’.

 

“The defence of cultural diversity is an ethical imperative, inseparable from respect for human dignity. It implies a commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular the rights of persons belonging to minorities and those of indigenous peoples.”

-Article 4 of UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity

 

China, interpreting and absorbing ethnic groups(peoples) around today’s borders, is ignoring the dignity of human beings by suppressing the unique traditions and expressions of other ethnic groups(peoples). The behaviors of Chinese users who claim that Hanbok or Gat is the clothing of Chinese Nation(Zhonghua Minzu), not admitting it as Korean traditional clothing, and accusing the company to delete it from in-game description are acts of denying and damaging the identity of other ethnic groups.

 

This attitude of China started with an attempt to incorporate all the history unfolded in the northeast region of China into Chinese history through the Northeast Project, which started in 2002. Since then, China continues to extend the length of the Great Wall based on today’s borders, and claims that the heroes of other ethnic groups, such as Genghis(Jinghiz) Khan and King Gwanggaeto the Great are also Chinese. Also, the comments of Korean celebrities are being attacked indiscriminately if they go against the feelings of Chinese Nation(Zhonghua Minzu).

 

We ask Thatgamecompany to not give in to China’s attitude of cultural imperialism and find a true way for inspiring human connection worldwide.

https://chng.it/NGHnYQwmH6

Korean War broke out due to North Korea’s invasion of the South. According to the release of confidential documents by the former Soviet Union in the 1960s, Kim Il-sung and the then highest DPRK leadership conceived a three-phase plan for the war. The former Soviet Union and China cooperated with North Korea’s Kim Il-sung before the war, and the date of the invasion on June 25th was determined by Kim Il-sung himself.

 

At that time, South Korea, or the Republic of Korea received support from 67 countries during the Korean War. Among the 67 countries, 16 sent UN Forces, 5 gave medical support, 40 provided supplies, and 6 supported post-war reconstruction. Korea is listed in the Guinness World Records as an ally that received the most support from countries during a war. Also, more than 500,000 people were recorded as war death/death, wounded, disappeared, POW among the United Nations Forces that fought in the war.

 

The freedom and peace of the Republic of Korea were not the only values that the Korean War veterans preserved with their sacrifices. The Korean War was a war to overcome division, but from the beginning, it was also an “international all-out war” between the Free World against the Communist World allied with the former Soviet Union, China, and North Korea. The Korean War veterans sacrificed for peace in Northeast Asia and for world peace.

 

It is said that remembering the past is promising the future. We do remember the link of solidarity created by the veterans. We remember the young men and women who were willing to grab the hands of others without letting go of their weak links and endangering world peace. From the courage and sacrifice we keep in mind, we will be able to go one step further for the peace of humanity.

 

We call on the Korean government and the UN to build Korean War veterans monuments around the world. The Korean Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, together with the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation are building ‘Wall of Remembrance’ inside the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington D. C. until 2022.

 

We call on these efforts to expand beyond the United States to the following countries.

 

First, the government of the Republic of Korea and the United Stations should build a monument for Korean War veterans in each of the participant countries in order to remember the peace that the veterans have kept.

 

Second, the government of the Republic of Korea, the United Stations, and the participant countries, please promote various commemorative projects that can pass on to the next generation of the Korean War veterans’ noble dedication.

 

 

* List of 67 countries that supported Republic of Korea during the Korean War

(in alphabetical order)

 

United Nations Troops Support (16)

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

 

Medical Support (5)

Denmark, India, Italy, Norway, Sweden

 

Material Support (40)

Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Lebanon, Liberia, Mexico, Monaco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam

 

post-war Reconstruction Support (6)

Iraq, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Spain, The Vatican

https://chng.it/Rdwy9qfSDr

 

Which of the following food come from China?

1) pizza

2) hamburger

3) kimchi

4) ssam

 

None of the choices are correct. These foods did not come from China. Pizza and hamburger come from Western countries, and kimchi and ssam come from Korea.

For those who have experienced Korean food culture, the first time you tried kimchi and ssam would have been a pretty unusual one from those you have had with other food cultures. For those who have never heard of kimchi or ssam, a typical kimchi is a dish that is fermented after mixing salted cabbage or radish with seasoning such as red pepper powder, green onions, and garlic. And ssam is a dish that you enjoy by laying rice, meat and side dishes on a leaf of lettuce(or cabbage, sesame leaf, pumpkin leaf, and so on) and wrap the whole thing and eat at one go. These two dishes all come from Korea and have been parts of Korean culture for a long time.

But recently, there have been people who stubbornly persist that kimch and ssam are not part of Korean food and culture.

They are Chinese netizens.

Chinese netizens have been persisting that Korean food culture are from China by fabricating and distorting on the internet. Furthermore, they are insulting and condemning those who are enjoying Korean food.

Regarding a YouTube video of a Korean YouTuber eating kimchi and ssam, Chinese netizens claimed that the YouTuber stole Chinese culture, and they committed cyber terrorism, leaving malicious comments such as ‘Piss off, you YouTubers who claim that ssam and kimchi are from Korea.’

Even more embarrassing, a Chinese media company(上海素贤广告传媒有限公司) that was working with the YouTuber suddenly unilaterally terminated the contract with the YouTuber. The notice of termination is also ridiculous. The company stated that ‘the YouTuber caused bad influence on the Chinese public, so the company has decided to terminate all cooperation with the YouTuber. Our company is firmly opposed to any acts of insulting China, and it also resolutely safeguards the dignity of our country and the people from the ones insulting China’s attitudes and remarks.’

We cannot really understand what content in the video of a Korean YouTuber eating Korean food has seriously given adverse affects to China, insulted China, or harmed the dignity of the Chinese people.

But what is obvious is that Chinese netizens and the company are trying to steal Korea’s native food culture and claiming that kimchi and ssam are native food cultures of China.

This is not the first time in China’s acts of stealing Korean culture and claiming that Korean culture belongs to Chinese. China has already distorted the history of Goguryeo and Balhae as the history of China for decades and has been promoting these to the world as their own history. China has been insisting various historical and cultural distortions as the following: Hanbok is a Chinese traditional attire, Taegeukgi (national flag of Korea) was invented by a Chinese, Korean children’s song and folk song are Chinese songs, and world-class football player Son Heung-min’s ancestors are Chinese.

This is a form of chauvinism and Zhounghua(Chinese) nationalism merged together, and in reality beyond cyberspace, these actions and claims are being blatantly conducted by China.

We condemn Chinese netizens, Chinese companies, and the Chinese government for blatant acts to steal Korean culture!

If China continues to blindly manipulate and distort Korean culture as its own, China will surely lose trust from the entire world. If China continues to steal like this, the world will brand China as ‘a thief who steals Korean culture’.

In addition to this, before China condemns and insults other people’s critical remarks about China’s distorting behavior, it needs to realize that the stealing act itself that has been already committed is wrong in the first place.

If we remain silent, this kind of incident will be repeated in the future.

 

Please raise your voice of opposition to China’s chauvinism and Zhounghua(Chinese) nationalism that steals Korean culture!

First, the Chinese government should stop stealing Korean culture!

Second, the Chinese government should express concern about the actions and comments of its own citizens and their own companies that hinder peaceful exchanges between Koreans and their own people.

https://chng.it/RXhmrzV5yW

Before we travel to a country, we often look for information about that country on the internet.

However, since there are not many ways to find out if any information on the internet is reliable, we strive to find the reliable ones.

Maybe one of the easiest ways is to find a book about the country.

It is because we believe that the content on the book is verified and verified by people who know the country better than ourselves.

Therefore, a guidebook could be a very useful book during the trip. It is good for grasping the culture, history, food, tourist destinations, convenience facilities of the country, and so on, and the book is a collection of good information for travelers to know.

But how would you respond if the contents described in the guidebook have absurd errors and distortions?

Followed by the distortion and derogation of Korea in “The Rough Guide to Korea”, Korean guidebooks published by world famous tourist publishers are overflowing with errors.

(relevant petition : http://maywespeak.com/guidebook )

Lonely Planet Korea(11th edition, 2019), Insight Guides South Korea(12th, 2019), South Korea Travel for Kids(2019) are the most recent Korean guidebooks published by Lonely Planet, Insight Guides, Dinobibi Publishing respectively.

The Lonely Planet has history that reaches up to fifty years, and is a famous tourist publishing company that has a reputation as a ‘Bible of travel publishing’. The company has been publishing Lonely Planet Korea guidebook for more than 30 years since 1991.

The Insight Guides has history over fifty years and is also famous for packaged tours. The company also has been publishing Insight Guides South Korea guidebook for more than 40 years since 1981.

Dinobibi Publishing is a company that publishes history books and guidebooks for children, and interestingly, it publishes books that set up a child from one country introducing his/her home country to children from other countries, and a Korean guidebook was recently published.

After researching and analyzing the contents of Korea, more than 20, 32, and 24 errors and distortions about Korea in each book has been revealed.

At this very moment, these books are being sold on various bookstores worldwide, each publishing company’s web site and through online shopping malls.

 

Typical errors are as follows.

(1) Lonely Planet Korea 11th edition, 2019

▶“Koreans perform sebae(a ritual bow) on Chuseok.” : “The three-day Harvest Moon Festival is a major holiday when families gather, visit their ancestors’ graves and perform sebae(a ritual bow). Begins on 12 September in 2019, 30 September 2020 and 20 september 2021.”

→ On Chuseok, Koreans do not perform sebae. Koreans perform sebae on Seollal(Lunar New Year’s day).

▶“Unified Silla was under the long-term sway of the great Tang.” : “Silla emerged victorious on the peninsula in 668. However, a consequence of this was that the country had come under the long-term sway of the great Tang dynasty (618-907) in China.”

→ Silla was never held sway over by Tang.

▶“Between 2000 and 2008, the Lee Myung bak administration suspended the Sunshine policy.” : “Between 2000 and 2008, when Lee Myung bak’s administration suspended the (Sunshine)policy, tens of thousands of South Koreans were able to visit the North.”

→ President Lee Myung-bak began his presidency in 2008, and the Sunshine Policy was not stopped but actively developed between 2000 and 2008.

 

(2) Insight Guides South Korea 12th edition, 2019

▶“Gojoseon has 400 years of history.” : “GOJOSEON PERIOD / 800-400 BC / Korea’s Bronze Age”

→ The history of Gojoseon dates back to 2333 B.C. to 108 B.C..

▶“Taekwondo is a traditional martial art of Korea that has lasted for more than 2,000 years and was learned from Tang.” : “Taekwondo, literally the way of combat kicking and punching, is a martial art exercise that has been developing in Korea for more than 2,000 years. … This empty hand-fighting technique was learned from China during the Tang dynasty.”

→ If Taekwondo was learned from Tang(618-907) and lasted more than 2,000 years, the year of today should be at least 2600, not 2021. Taekwondo is not a martial art that originated from Tang.

▶“Bibimbap is a rice and vegetable stew.” : “Jeonju – renowned for its paper and paper products, its bibimbap [rice and vegetable stew]…”

→ Bibimbap is not a rice and vegetable stew. Bibimbap is rice mixed with meat or vegetables and various seasonings.

 

(3) South Korea Travel for Kids, 2019

▶“Seoul is located in Gyeonggi Province.” : “Seoul, the capital of South Korea is located in the Gyeonggi Province.”

→ Seoul is the capital of South Korea, but the Seoul Metropolitan city is an administrative autonomous district separate from Gyeonggi Province. Seoul is not located in Gyeonggi Province.

▶“Koreans drink tteokguk.” : “We believe drinking one bowl of tteokguk makes us one year older. So, we kids try to drink as many bowls as we can!”

→ We eat, not drink, tteokguk.

▶“Seoul hosted the Olympic Games in 2002.” : “In which year did Seoul host the Olympic Games? 1. 1994, 2. 1998, 3. 2002. Answer: (3) 2002”

→Seoul hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1988. The year 2002 is when Korea co-hosted the World Cup with Japan.

 

The typical errors and distortions above are chosen from each book that contains 20+, 32+, 24+ errors and distortions respectively. In addition to this, various errors and distortions are describe in the guidebooks. (The full list of errors is detailed at the bottom of the petition.)

We have described correction details for each error with arrows(). The above examples of errors are too obvious so that could be found very easily in the standpoint of Koreans. However, if somebody who does not know much about Korea were to buy and read these books, there would be high probability that the foreigner would believe the errors and distorted contents in the guidebooks just as they are, and after that, the foreigners will visit Korea with their heads filled up with misconception and prejudice. This might happen because these publishers are deemed to have public credibility.

If it is a guidebook about Korea, publishers should at least receive a review of the authenticity of the contents to be described in the guidebooks by a Korean or a Korea(n) expert, and should carefully check the contents and provide accurate information.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of tourists visiting Korea has decreased more than ever, but on the contrary, the number of foreigners who are interested in such as Korean culture, people and history through the internet has increased than ever before. It is important to rectify these errors in guidebooks because these Korea guidebooks are to be obtained and viewed by people from all over the world who are going to visit Korea after this epidemic is over.

If the guidebooks about Korea do not correct these errors, with the Korean Wave fever around the world, such as K-pop and K-drama, 100 million Korean Wave fans around the world will get false information about Korea. And through this the increased interest in Korea may be a bad chance to develop a distorted perception about Korea.

Therefore, we request Lonely Planet, the publisher of the 11th edition of Lonely Planet Korea; Insight Guides, the publisher of the 12th edition of Insight Guides South Korea; Dinobibi Publishing, the publisher of South Korea Travel for Kids, to correct errors and distortions about Korea in the books.

First, Lonely Planet, Insight Guides, Dinobibi Publishing should apologize for the errors and distortions on each books and promise to correct them.

Second, Lonely Planet, Insight Guides, Dinobibi Publishing, after consulting experts on errors and distortions of each book, should determine whether the facts on the books are true or not, and then describe the revisions in the upcoming edition of each book.

https://chng.it/4tsdWdBTjS

From the standpoint of a foreigner, there is something that everyone reads at least once before traveling to a new country. What is it?

It is buying or borrowing a guidebook that introduces the country.

A guidebook shows basic living information, culture, history, food, people, tourist attractions about the country.

By the way, could you believe it if a guidebook for people around the world who want to travel Korea is degrading Korea?

The distortion and derogation of Korea in “The Rough Guide to Korea”, a guidebook enjoyed by tourists from all over the world, is very serious.

On the most recently published edition(Nov. 2018, 4th edition) of “The Rough Guide to Korea” guidebook has more than 36 distortions of Korea and it describes beyond a specific field in so much variety and shocking contents including sexual discrimination, racial discrimination, regional discrimination, defaming Korean society, defaming Korean ladies, defaming Provisional Government of Korea, Korean history distortion, Korean culture distortion, and Descriptive errors on Korea.

The “Rough Guides” which publishes “The Rough Guide to Korea” is a British publisher established in 1982 and has been publishing guidebooks of more than 200 places around the world, and this book is a famous travel guide for Europeans.

The book has been sold online through Amazon and publisher’s web site, and on various book stores around the world.

Typical examples of errors, distortions and derogation of “The Rough Guide to Korea 4th edition is as follows.(The full list of errors is detailed at the bottom.)

▶Marking Ulleungdo as under the jurisdiction of Gangwon-do on the map of Korea.

▶Describing Korea’s public transportation system as “in some cities (notably Seoul) you’re no longer able to pay in cash at all”

▶Describing Taekwondo as “Taekwondo (태권도) is the best known – developed in Tang-dynasty China,”

▶Describing the issue of geographical naming of the East Sea as “The victim mentality drilled into Korean students during their history lessons is such that any perceived slant against the nation, no matter how slight, can turn into a serious issue that has the whole country boiling with rage.”, “Korean diplomats raised enough of a stink to take the issue to the United Nations,”

▶Describing the Independence Hall of Korea as “Scarcely an opportunity is missed to insert a derogatory adjective against the Japanese people and policies of the time, but this combination of vitriol and history makes for an absorbing visit.”

▶“1248 – Korea becomes a vassal state of Mongol Khaans” on a chronological table of Korean history.

▶ Disparaging Korean freedom fighters and Provisional Government of Korea by describing the end of Japanese colonial rule as “Modern Korean museums and history books extol the achievements of what was, in reality, a largely toothless group. In doing this they gloss over the fundamental reason for Korea’s independence: the American A-bombs that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, …”

▶Introducing K-pop as “While the term(K-pop) is broad, it usually refers to saccharine boy- and girl-band pap, which since the turn of the century has been accompanying music videos become ever more raunchy.”

These are not the only errors, distortions and derogations of Korea in this book

In the latest edition, the description between single quotation marks‘’ below is deleted, but on the previous third edition, on the same issue of geographical naming of the East Sea describes

▶“Koreans insist that the name is a symbol of Japan’s imperial past, and youth hostel wall maps around the world have had the name crossed out by ‘kimchi chomping’ Korean travellers and replaced with ‘East Sea’.”

Even the fourth edition(2018), which was published more recently than the third edition(2015), distorts and disparages Korea more severely.

▶Daegu’s Apple Girls

In the third edition, in the column introducing Daegu, under the heading “Apple Girls” describes “This fruit from the surrounding countryside is said to keep the skin pimple-free, and also provides the blanching effect that Korean girls crave.”

In comparison, in the revised 4th edition, under the heading “Daegu’s Apple girls”, describes “However, those who have spent some time in Seoul will notice that women in Daegu seem to dress at least a few years behind their counterparts from the capital – one of the most visible indications of the city’s long-standing conservatism.”, which encompasses racism, defaming Koreans, demeaning Korean ladies, and regional discrimination.

In addition to the above, the 4th edition of “The Rough Guide to Korea” describes various errors, distortions and degradations. It is a very doubful book whether it is a guidebook that introduces Korea to people around the world who are interested in Korea or a book that was produced to disparage and mock Korea.

If a Korean guidebook disparages Korea as above, it can give wrong and distorted perception of Korea to people around the world who visit Korea and can cause serious problems that could lead to preconceptions about Korea, Koreans, Korean culture and history.

If it is a guidebook about Korea, at least it should be consulted by a Korean or a Korean expert on the authenticity of the contents, and it should be published after careful examination of the facts.

Above all, more people around the world have become interested in Korea than ever before, and as the number of people around the world who want to learn Korean language is increasing. With 100 million Hallyu(Korean Wave) fans worldwide through BTS, BLACKPINK, Korean dramas and movies, the errors, distortions and degradation of the guidebook introducing Korea as such must be corrected and rectified.

Therefore, we request Rough Guides, the publisher of the 4th edition of The Rough Guide to Korea, to correct errors, distortions, and degradation about Korea.

First, the Rough Guides should apologize for the errors, distortions, and degradation about Korea on the 4th edition of The Rough Guide to Korea.

Second, the Rough Guides, after consulting experts on errors, distortions and degradation of the 4th edition of The Rough Guide to Korea, should determine whether the facts on the book are true or not, and then describe the revisions in the upcoming edition of The Rough Guide to Korea.

https://chng.it/gVf5VKWXsz

Chinese people like the color red.

But it does not mean that all red items come from China.

Not all red items are from China.

Kimchi is a traditional Korean food that originated in Korea.

Stop China’s cultural hegemony!

China, which distorted Korean Hanbok and Arirang as Chinese culture, is now distorting Korean traditional food, Kimchi as Chinese food.

On November 29, 2020, China’s state-run media, Global Times(环球时报), took a post from a site called Fengwen(hearsay) Community(风闻社区), a platform operated by Chinese media, Guancha Syndicate(观察者网), and posted on Global Times Baidu account.

In an article posted on the Baidu account by Global Times, Pao Cai(泡菜), a pickled vegetable in China was set as an international standard by the ISO(International Organization for Standardization) that “Korean Kimchi is also Pao Cai, so now China is the world standard for Kimchi industry.”

The Global Times spread the distorted text even though the ISO clearly stated that “This (ISO) document does not apply to Kimchi.”

ISO’s new accreditation as an international standard is a pickle-like salted vegetable from Sichuan Province, China, which is different from traditional Korean Kimchi.

Chinese Pao Cai and Korean Kimchi are completely different foods because there are major differences in shape, manufacturing process, and fermentation stage. Above all, the international standard that China advocates is meaningless with the exclusion of Korea, the birthplace of Kimchi.

For this reason, on November 30th, the BBC stipulated that reports of the Chinese media’s “international Kimchi Standard” was misleading.

In an article entitled “Kimchi ferments cultural feud between South Korea and China”, the BBC reported that “South Korea has rebuffed China after ‘false reports’ that it had won global certification for its production of Kimchi – a hallowed dish for Koreans”

The BBC also introduced the ingredients of Kimchi and Kimjang culture of Korea, explaining that it is different from China’s Pao Cai.

However, it is not only the Chinese state-run media that distorts Kimchi.

In the encyclopedia of Baidu, China’s largest portal site, there is a distorted description of Kimchi that it is a long cultural heritage of China and the origin of Kimchi is China.

Media and portal site with great influence in China distorting as ‘the origin of Kimchi is China’ and ‘Kimchi is a Chinese cultural heritage’, and leaving it uncorrected, can be seen as an expression of China’s willingness to promote Kimchi as a Chinese culture.

 

VANK speculates that the distortion of Kimchi in China’s Global Times and Baidu Encyclopedia is the so called ‘Kimchi Project’ to transform Korean food culture into Chinese culture, like the Northeast Project promoted by the Chinese government to distort Korean Goguryeo into Chinese history.

For Koreans, Kimchi is a long-standing cultural heritage of Korea and a symbol of food culture that reveals Koreans’ identity to the international community

In this sense, China’s so-called ‘Kimchi Project’ to take Kimchi into Chinese culture reveals China’s nationalism and cultural hegemony. If this is left unattended, it will lead to great divisions and conflicts between the citizens of both Korea and China.

Therefore, if the international community remains idle on China’s cultural hegemony, it will be a great threat to peace in Northeast Asia, and world peace in the future will be shadowed by dark clouds.

Accordingly, we request the rectification of incorrect reports and information on Kimchi in Chinese state-run media, Global Times, and in China’s representative portal site, Baidu.

First, Global Times should apologize for spreading misinformation about Kimchi.

Second, Baidu should correct misinformation about Kimchi in its encyclopedia.

https://chng.it/dnf2k5Bkdk

Have you heard of Jikji?

Jikji was printed in 1377 at Heungdeoksa Temple in Cheongju, Korea during the Goryeo dynasty (918~1392), and is the world’s oldest existing book printed with movable metal type.

Jikji was listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register on September 4th, 2001.

In order to be listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register
it is required to have integrity, originality, and irreplaceability,
have the global importance in time, venue, human, subject, and theme value,
and to be a case that contributes to the emotional attachment of a particular community to the records, or to the current communal identity and social cohesion.

UNESCO decided to register Jikji as it meets this standard,
and the reasons for registration are as follows:

“Jikji is the world’s oldest existing book printed with movable metal type that has had a great influence on the spread of printing culture and human history.
Accordingly, it was recognized as a documentary heritage that had a worldwide influence, and currently only one copy is kept in France, so the rarity was largely considered in its selection as a UNESCO Memory of the World.
In addition, Jikji and the Gutenberg Bibles are the world’s oldest surviving Eastern-Western book printed with movable metal types, the greatest heritage that has revolutionized the documentary culture of humankind. It was recommended to be listed in the spirit of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme.”

Where can we meet Jikji, a rare Memory of the World that has had global influence?

At this moment, we cannot directly meet the human experience and anguish embodied in Jikji.

The National Library of France, (Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF) does not allow Jikji to be exhibited anywhere in the world, and Jikji is kept in its storage without being exhibited at the BnF.

Jikji, created in the Goryeo Dynasty in Korea, was brought to France by French diplomat Victor Collin de Plancy at the end of the 19th century, and was later sold to a collector and was donated to the BnF.

What is all known about Jikji is that in 1972, Dr. Park Byeongseon, a researcher at BnF found Jikji, which was mixed with books from other countries, and was submitted to a book fair held in Paris.

France is completely blocking the opportunity for the humanity to encounter Jikji, to learn from it, and to lead to new challenges and creativity.

We want to properly study the value of Jikji, a UNESCO Memory of the World, and as a future generation, we want to learn and engage in creative activities.

Furthermore, in consideration of the emotional attachment that Koreans have to the record of Jikji and the fact that Jikji contributes to the formation of the identity of the Korean community, we believe that it is necessary to keep and properly study it in Korea.

Therefore, we request the French Government and the BnF of the following:

First, the French government and the BnF should properly study and display Jikji.
Second, France should return or lend Jikji to Korea so that Koreans can encounter and understand the roots of their culture.

https://chng.it/vBzxQKYVVb

On October 29th, a Chinese company Papergames Inc. launched a new mobile styling game ‘Shining Nikki’ in Korea. Commemorating the launch, the company started its first event on November 4th by selling Hanbok items, traditional Korean clothing, simultaneously in Korea and China.

 

Regarding this event, Chinese internet users argued that Hanbok is a Chinese culture, such as a ‘Chinese Ming Dynasty Costume’ or ‘Hanbok is a costume of ethnic minority Koreans living in China’.

 

Regarding the incident, Papergames Inc. expressed its position on this issue as follows: “As a ‘One China’ company, the positions of Papergames and our country(China) are always consistent. We will actively fulfill our responsibility and mission as a Chinese company.” Just a week after the launch. the company deleted the Hanbok items and declared the withdrawal of the Korean business. It did not apologize for the demeaning of Hanbok and Korean culture.

 

The claim that Hanbok is a Chinese clothing ignores the cultural diversity and identity of other ethnic groups.

 

Although the cultures of Korea, China, and Japan in Northeast Asia have been influenced by each other, there are traditional and unique costumes that are distinguished by country. For example, in Korea, there is ‘Hanbok’. In China, there is ‘Qipao’, and in Japan, there is ‘Kimono’.

 

<Mexico City Declaration on Cultural Policies> in 1982 states:

  1. Every culture represents a unique and irreplaceable body of values since each people’s traditions and forms of expression are its most effective means of demonstrating its presence in the world.
  2. The assertion of cultural identity therefore contributes to the liberation of the peoples, Conversely, any form of domination constitutes a denial or an impairment of that identity.

 

 

Hanbok, a traditional Korean clothing, is a matter of Korean people’s identity and pride.

 

Nevertheless, the Chinese government is trying to control other countries and nations with ‘Zhonghua(Chinese) Nationalism(Zhonghua Minzuzhuyi, 中华民族主義)’ in order to reorganize the world order centered on China. China is trying to embrace all 55 ethnic minorities as one nation and is advocating ‘Zhounghua(Chinese) nation(Zhonghua Minzu, 中华民族) by clearing borders between ethnic groups, distorting facts, and not allowing opinions different from the distorted facts and going on a path to keep others silent.

 

Chinese netizens demand that Hanbok should not be described as a traditional clothing of Korea because it is influenced by China and is the clothing of the ethnic minority Koreans in China. We criticize China for interpreting and absorbing nations within today’s borders, and suppressing the unique traditions and expressions of other peoples. Preventing Korean traditional clothing from being called as Korean traditional clothing and claiming those to be ‘Zhounghua(Chinese) nation(Zhonghua Minzu, 中华民族)’s clothes, and deleting Hanbok are acts of denying and damaging the identity of other ethnic groups.

 

These kinds of China’s attitudes and actions did not start all of a sudden. The attempt to incorporate all of the history developed in the northeast region of China into Chinese history through the Northeast Project was launched in 2002 and it was its beginning. Since then, the length of the Great Wall has been increased based on today’s borders, and the heroes of other ethnic groups, such as Genghis Khan and King Gwanggaeto, are also claimed to be as ‘Zhounghua(Chinese) nation(Zhonghua Minzu, 中华民族)’. The remarks of Korean celebrities are also being attacked indiscriminately if they go against the feelings of the ‘Zhounghua(Chinese) nation(Zhonghua Minzu, 中华民族). Furthermore, the ethnic minorities in China are deprived of the right to learn the traditions and cultures contained in their mother tongue and to be connected with their roots.

 

<relevant Global Petitions>

* Stop Chinese government from distorting history of Goguryeo!

https://chng.it/xPsVh8Q4Kr

* Is the Great Wall of China a wall made of rubber band?

https://chng.it/cmDSgNsVJr

* Stop China’s cyber chauvinism which lynched a Korean celebrity!

* UNESCO, Save the mother tongues of ethnic minorities in China!

 

 

Meanwhile, Papergames Inc.‘s response abandoned its responsible management as a multinational corporation.

 

Papergames Inc. has declared that it only has the identity of a Chinese company. It is a multinational company as it has advanced into Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia. As a multinational corporation, the company should have shown a responsible management attitude.

 

With the emergence of digital technology, new types of companies that exist internationally with no specific link to a country have emerged, so corporate responsibility management has become more important. It is because the control of the state became difficult. Multinational corporations must preemptively take measures such as protecting personal information, protecting consumers, and preventing violence and hateful contents. (Guideline For Multinational Enterprises : Responsible business conduct & digitalization, from OECD workshop, 4 November 2019)

 

However, the Papergames Inc. did not make any effort to mediate or resolve the conflict caused by Chinese netizens’ Korean culture disparagement and hate speech. The company just chose to shut down and withdraw their business a week after its launch of the game ‘Shining Nikki’.

 

 

Therefore, we demand the following to the Chinese government and Papergames Inc.

 

  1. The Papergames Inc. should apologize for disparaging Korean culture and Hanbok.
  2. The Chinese government should stop invading the cultures of neighboring countries and peoples.
  3. The UNESCO should warn the Chinese government that suppresses cultural diversity and the right to express one’s culture.

https://chng.it/6JqYTR898S

Despite the need to provide fair and accurate information based on the United States Department of State(DOS)’s vision and impact, the DOS’s home page displays incorrect information about Korea.

The DOS is one of the U.S. central administrative departments, carrying out all U.S. foreign relations duties, and is the same as the foreign ministry of other countries that directs diplomatic offices around the world.

Their vision states that on behalf of the American people they promote and demonstrate democratic values and advance a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.

The DOS serves as a key source of information through its home page, providing American citizens with things to keep in mind when traveling around the world.

As the DOS performs the above tasks, they need to provide more fair and accurate information.

However, the DOS is displaying incorrect information on the map of Korea on their official web site.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/SouthKorea.html

The eastern sea of Korea has a unique name called the ‘East Sea’, which Koreans have called for more than 2,000 years, but the DOS still marks only the ‘Sea of Japan’ despite years of request for correction to mark the eastern sea of Korea as the ‘East Sea’.

The ‘Sea of Japan’ is a remnant of Japanese imperialism, a partial name advocating for Japanese imperialism, and is a fallacy against the DOS’s vision to promote and prove democratic values.

The East Sea notation is not just a matter of naming for Koreans, but a matter of regaining the name of Koreans that was unreasonably taken away during the Japanese occupation(1910-1945).

During the colonial rule of Korea, Japan made Korean people impossible to speak Korean language or write Korean letters and forced them to use only Japanese.

At this time, Korean place names were changed to Japanes,e and the expression “Sea of Japan” was widely introduced to the international community and was fixed throughout the world.

In addition, the East Sea has been a place of living and worship for the Korean people, and sometimes has been a stage of history.

The name East Sea(Dong hae, 동해) contains the history, culture, and identity that symbolize Korea.

In the records of various documents and maps, the East Sea has not only appeared as a simple place name, but has served as an object to pray for the people’s abundance and well-being, the stage of history, the background of the folk tales, and the foundation of life.

Just as the first word of the first verse of the Korean national anthem begins with ‘East Sea(Dong hae, 동해)’, the East Sea is a symbol and history of Korea.

Also, the East Sea is still used as a number of symbols in various areas of life such as human names, geographical names and business names.

This is not the only error in the map on DOS web site.

The DOS has marked Dokdo, a Korean territory, as Japanese territory on its web site until 2018, and when you click Dokdo on the map, Japan travel information appeared on the screen.

As of 2020, the topography of Dokdo remains on the map, but there are no markings including the name, so Dokdo on the map appears to be nobody’s territory(terra nullius), not Korean territory.

Dokdo is a beautiful island of Korea where Koreans reside and is consisted of Dongdo(East island), Seodo(West island) and surrounding islets.

On the other hand, the ‘Okinotori Reef’, which is made up of two reefs that the Japanese government claims to be an island, is 1740km away from Tokyo, but they say that the administrative authority of the ‘Okinotori Reef’ belongs to Tokyo Metropolis.

This ‘Okinotori Reef’ is uninhabitable, and compared to Dokdo, it covers only about 1/20000 of Dokdo’s area, but the U.S. DOS map describes both reefs as islands with the name notated as ‘Okinotori-shima Is’.

The Japanese relentlessly arguing that the ‘Sea of Japan’ is an international name, and is constantly trying to generate international disputes, saying Dokdo is Japanese territory and that Korea is occupying the island illegally.

However, both the United States and Japan have known the truth of the East Sea and Dokdo for a long time, and the world’s view of the East Sea and Dokdo is also changing.

The DOS has remained silent about Koreans’ requests to correct the errors about the East Sea and Dokdo, but changes are already happening in the United States and around the world.

In 2014, a bill mandating the ‘East Sea’ and ‘Sea of Japan’ notation in the textbooks of Virginia State public schools passed a plenary meeting of the House of Representatives, and from 2017, the Virginia Department of Education has included the East Sea and the Sea of Japan together in all textbooks.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/02/07/273125480/virginia-textbooks-to-recognize-s-koreas-east-sea-claim

Also, in 2019, the New York State Department of Education issued an ‘Update Guidance for Sea of Japan/East Sea’ to all public school districts across the state, and recommends using the ‘East Sea’ and ‘Sea of Japan’ together when teaching students.
http://www.nysed.gov//memo/curriculum-instruction/updated-guidance-sea-japaneast-sea

In 1999, the Japanese government distributed the following materials around the world to prevent the ‘East Sea’ from being marked. “97.2% of the world maps are marked as the ‘Sea of Japan’, and the map marked as ‘East Sea’ is only in Korea. Therefore, the ‘Sea of Japan’ is a common sense recognized by people around the world.”
However, 20 years later in 2019, more than 40% of the world maps mark the ‘East Sea’ either individually or side by side with ‘Sea of Japan’, with the efforts of Korean citizens and Koreans around the world.

In the World Health Organization(WHO)’s map of Korea, Dokdo, a Korean territory, was not marked on the Korean map, but was marked in the same color as Japanese territory on the map of Japan. However, through Koreans’ requests for correction of errors and through Global Petition, we have changed the WHO, which had been silent for seven months.

The WHO did not newly list corrected maps, but as a compromise on maps, it has deleted the maps in the introduction section of all countries, including Korea and Japan, and marked the national flags on the same section.
https://www.change.org/p/world-health-organization-who-world-health-organization-who-who-is-it-for/u/27913504

The DOS home page says that the information contained within is updated on a daily basis, and that the names and boundary representation are not necessarily authoritative, but the DOS is evading responsibility for errors in marking the East Sea and Dokdo of Korea that they have been neglecting.

In order for a country’s central administrative department to include facts about Korea on its official web site, it is of course necessary to check and determine the relevant records on such as Korean society, history and name, and then register the precise facts.

We demand the United States Department of State to correct the errors of the East Sea and Dokdo island of Korea, which are displayed on its home page, in accordance with the vision of DOS.

First, we request the DOS to mark the name of the eastern sea of Korea as the ‘East Sea’.

Second, we demand the DOS that the island located at the eastern end of Korea be marked as ‘Dokdo’.

https://chng.it/SnBnqp6Mrv

Do you remember the Jews who died of Holocaust?

The Jews were ordered to ‘go inside the shower room to get a shower’.
The Jews were delighted to take a shower after a long time and headed towards the shower room.
However, no water came out of the shower.
Instead of water, gas came out of the shower, and the Jews were suffocated by gas without knowing anything.

The systematically planned genocide happened not only in Germany.

Do you know the Korean victims of wartime forced labor that died in the vessel, Ukishima?

Japan’s loss of WWⅡ, August 1945

The civilians of wartime forced labor were ordered to ‘board the ship to your home’.
More than 5,000 laborers boarded the Ukishima bound for Busan with the hope that they could finally return to their homes.
However, the Ukishima didn’t head toward Busan.

Willing to avoid criticism from the international community for wartime forced labor, the Japanese government planned a systematic genocide when sending back civilians on the return vessel to Joseon(Korea).
The Japanese government ordered the crew to annihilate and commit suicide, not to repatriate the conscripted workers.

According to an investigation report prepared at the request of the Allied Forces, there was a record that there was a crew demonstration arguing that Japanese crews could not give their lives because of Joseon people(Koreans), and there was a record that the chief of staff of the Navy had commanded the crews to give up their lives.
The captain and crew, who were instructed, changed to the route along the coast, not heading toward Busan.
The reason was to guide it to the coast of Maizuru Bay, where there were many mines, to disguise it as an accident.

On the way down the coast, the vessel stopped off the coast of Maizuru Bay, Japan, and the Japanese Navy escaped. The vessel soon exploded.
Three consecutive explosions happened inside the vessel.
Most of the Koreans aboard the ship died as they were

Since then, the Japanese government had not conducted any investigation to probe the truth and did not lift the ship for nine years after the sinking.
In order to hide the evidence of the sinking by explosion, the Japanese government concealed the evidence by separating and selling scrap metal after the salvage.

This corresponds to the slaughter of civilians, which was carried out thoroughly from the initial plan to concealment under the initiative and plan of the Japanese government to erase the brutality of forced conscription.
This is an international misconduct in violation of the Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide(a.k.a. Genocide Convention).

Japan insists that this incident is simply an accident caused by a United States military mine, so it is not a national misconduct.

However, Japan cannot explain
Why the vessel changed its route,
Why the crews were ordered to annihilate and commit suicide,
Why the Japanese Navy was able to predict an explosion and escape from ‘the unexpected accident’,
Why there were inside explosions,
Why the Japanese government passively conducted investigation to probe the truth where more than 5,000 civilians had died.

The bereaved families of the victims of Ukishima vessel requested apology and compensation by the Japanese government. They partially won the first trial, but lost in the subsequent appeal and the final appeal.

Now we request the international community to conduct investigation to probe the truth.

First, the United Nations Human Rights Council(UNHRC) should investigate the actual conditions in regard to the genocide of civilians of forced conscription that Japan intends to hide.

Second, the UNHRC should conduct investigation to probe the truth of the Ukishima incident.

https://chng.it/7jWSMg56Rr

Have you heard of the Humboldt Forum?

The Humboldt Forum is a museum that will open in 2020. It was created with the intent of breaking the conventions of colonialism to otherize non-Western cultures and to dominate academic perceptions.

The museum says it will showcase relics from non-European continents and countries such as Africa, America, and Asia, with intense reflection on the past colonialism.

We would like to ask the Humboldt Forum.

What kind of exhibition could express your reflection on colonialism and imperialism at your museum?

The Korean Pavilion is only one-tenth the size of the Chinese and Japanese Pavilion, and while the Chinese and Japanese Pavilion exhibit thousands of artifacts, the Korean Pavilion only accounts for 100.

In addition, the curator in charge of the exhibition at the Humboldt Forum’s Korean Pavilion said, “At that time, Germans thought Joseon was a Chinese colony, so they did not pay much attention to the heritages of Joseon. That’s why there are no Korean heritages in the Forum.”

The curator follows the logic of Imperialist Japan to justify Korean colonial rule with prejudice against Korean culture.

After all, is the Humboldt Forum trying to display an exhibition that focuses on the culture of imperialism and preaches the logic of imperialism?

Are you trying to intend to divide the superiority of culture with imperialism, treat culture with prejudice, and ultimately justify imperialism?

Do you intend to display an exhibition that forgets that all cultures are sum of the experience and knowledge of a society obtained by responding to its own environment, and that they have their own value and reason to exist?

We request that you look into the reasons to exist and the values of Korean culture with an unbiased eye that can properly embody the spirit of the Humboldt Forum.

It is true that Korea in the 16th century was the Joseon Dynasty, and there was an international order centered on the Qing Dynasty at that time.

However, despite the international order centered on the Qing, Joseon had been actively responding as an independent country, creating a unique and independent culture and history.

King Sejong the Great of the Joseon Dynasty invented our own character ‘Hangul’ for Koreans, saying, “Our own words are different from China…”

The time zone of Joseon was different from that of China, and the ‘sundials and water clocks’ were invented to match the time zone of Joseon with King Sejong’s order.

By observing the celestial bodies based on the sky of Seoul, the calendar ‘Chiljeongsan’ that fits our sky was also invented.

Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.

Japanese imperialism tried to destroy the culture of the Korean people, but the Korean freedom fighters 100 years ago tried to preserve the originality and creative spirit despite the Japanese imperial repression.

Even in colonial Joseon, there was ‘Ahn Chang-ho’, who took the lead in Korean education, saying, “it is Koreans who will change Korea. Leave it to Koreans themselves, not Japan, to reform Korea.”

There was ‘Jun Hyeong-phil’ who collected Korean heritages that Japanese imperialism carelessly excavated and damaged by investing all his possessions.

There was ‘Yun Dong-ju’ who wrote down the agony of a colonial intellectual in Hangul..

During the March 1st Movement, there were 2 million unnamed Koreans who resisted Japanese imperialism.

We would like to ask again.

Is there no culture in Korea that has a meaning to reflect on imperialism and colonialism?

What exhibits are needed to reflect on imperialism and colonialism?

We request the following:

First, Do not interpret Korean history in Chinese and Japanese history, but research and interpret Korean history and culture independently.

Second, for the exhibition of the Korean Pavilion, reflect the research results of Korean historians, and in particular, actively interpret Korean history in accordance with the purpose of the Humboldt Forum.

* 「Recommendation concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections, their Diversity and their Role in Society」, 2015
“Member States should encourage museums to actively interpret and disseminate knowledge on collections, monuments and sites within their specific areas of expertise and to organize exhibitions, as appropriate.”

https://chng.it/VZdfd22v8Q

The museum is a French national anthropological museum that mainly exhibits 300,000 artifacts from Asia, America, and Oceania, which is enjoyed by foreigners visiting Paris as well as the Eiffel Tower.

By the way, the museum distorted Korea, which has continued its 5000-year history and splendid culture, into Chinese territory, and installed exhibits that marked the East Sea which Koreans have called for thousands of years, as Sea of Japan,

Most shockingly, the museum rejected the legitimate request of the Korean NGO VANK for pointing out these issues and politely requesting rectification, which hurt many Koreans.

In the case of the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, which has a reputation as the representative museum of human history in France, from an anthropological perspective, they should know how anti-human history conduct it is to mark the territory of one country, which is a symbol of national sovereignty, as the territory of another country to give recognition as a colony.

Besides, the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac should be aware that the East Sea notation to Koreans is not just a matter of sea names, but a matter of human history to recover the name of Korea that was unreasonably stolen during the Japanese occupation. This is because the meaning of place names for Koreans contains the history and identity of Koreans.

When Japan colonized Korea, it made Koreans unable to write and speak Korean language and forced them to use only Japanese. For this reason, changing the notation Sea of Japan into the East Sea for Koreans is to clear up the remnants of Japanese imperialism and to restore the identity of the Korean people.

Therefore, we demand that the Northeast Asia map displayed in the museum divide the part which marks Korea as Chinese territory into Korean territory and Chinese territory, and change the notation ‘Sea of Japan’ in to ‘East Sea.’

https://chng.it/cgY4tMVKRv

Every year, 15 million high school students are wrongly taught of Korean history.

Errors about Korea are neglected in the World History textbooks of the SAT test, which is taken by 2.2 million people worldwide, and the World History textbook of the AP test, which is taken by 300,000 people every year in the United States.

The SAT World History textbooks published by Kaplan, Barron’s and Princeton Review misrepresents the history and geography of Korea.

Typical errors are as follows: “The Tang dominated Korea.”, “In the mid-seventh century, the Silla dynasty drove out the Han and controlled the entire Korean Peninsula.”

Despite the existence of independent states on the Korean Peninsula, the maps of the Han Dynasty and the Mongolian Empire used in textbooks contain errors of including the Korean Peninsula on these maps.

Even in the most recent World History Prep textbook published in 2019, the first sentence that describes Korea is “The Allied victory over Japan in the Second World War brought an end to Japanese colonial rule over Korea, which had been formally established in 1910.” And There is no explanation of Gojoseon ~ Korean Empire throughout the book.

Various errors are neglected in AP textbooks as well as SAT textbooks.

The AP World History textbooks published by Princeton Review, McGraw-Hill, and Barron’s misrepresent the history of Korea.

Typical errors are: “In 668, the Chinese withdrew from Korea in exchange for an arrangement that made the Silla vassals of the Tang and required them to pay tribute. After the Tang withdrew, the Silla united Korea.”, “Under Emperor Xuanzong, the T’ang expanded Chinese territory into parts of Korea.”, “Korea had its own independent and powerful dynasty, but in order to maintain the appearance of cordial relations with their powerful Chinese neighbors, the Koreans became a vassal-state of the T’ang.”, “In 1876, Korea realized China was weak and declared its independence.”

One textbook even states that Hangul, the unique characters of Korea, is derived from Chinese ideograms.

These examples are all obvious errors related to Korea that have been described as facts in SAT and AP textbooks for many years.

Although many errors about Korea have been neglected, they have not been corrected for years.

If such biased and misleading statements about Korea in textbooks that are taught to American high school students and to students who want to go to college in the United States continue to be neglected in the future, it will result in terrible outcome to the identity of the Korean Americans of the future generation.

Moreover, it may harm the coexistence and mutual respect of many ethnic groups and races in American society, and may lead to misunderstandings about Korean Americans and their history.

We believe that the College Board and SAT, AP publishers are responsible for the problems mentioned above.

Accordingly, We VANK request the College Board and SAT, AP textbook publishers to review the errors related to Korea and verify facts based on reliable information, correct the errors actively.

https://chng.it/k8Fs87gFMP

Have you heard of Republic of Korea’s marine resource Sector 7, which may be lost in our apathy?

In 1968, the sector was investigated by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea that “it is likely to have the world’s richest petroleum resources. However, the exploration and development have been suspended until now due to Japan’s refusal to develop a joint development treaty with Japan.

However, experts poinot out that when the treaty ends in 2028, it is highly likely that more than 90% of the Sector 7 will be owned by Japan, and then Japan will independently develop the marine resources. In this situation, the Chinese government is also claiming ownership of the Sector 7.

We must gather the public’s interest in Korea’s maritime resources and ask for the support and cooperation of people around the world.

Based on this, we must ask the Japanese government to comply with the treaty and to build experiences of cooperation and peace together.

Accordingly, VANK initiates a Global Petition for the implementation of the Japanese government’s compliance of the treaty on the Sector 7.

https://chng.it/kVSBrD2Zz4

VANK is promoting a global campaign to recover Korean cultural heritages that were illegally smuggled out during the Japanese occupation period.

According to the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage(NRICH) Korea, it is estimated that there are about 172,000 cultural assets that have been taken out overseas.

Among them, with the exception of diplomacy, trade, and gift, about 30,000 pieces of cultural assets are believed to be illicitly stolen.

First of all, VANK would like to publicize the issue of the “Ogura Collection” , displayed in the Asian Gallery of Tokyo National Museum, which is notorious for being an illegal stolen cultural assets.

The reason VANK is launching a global campaign for the retrieval of cultural properties from overseas is to spread international public opinion on cultural assets that were smuggled out and to develop the issue of looted cultural properties into a global issue.

Through this petition, VANK hopes to raise awareness of the problem of smuggled out cultural properties around the world, and to raise awareness of the governments and citizens of countries that stole cultural properties in the past will return the treasures they brought from Korea.

https://chng.it/cmDSgNsVJr

The Chinese government’s elongation of the Great Wall is worsening as years go by.

The National Administration of Cultural Heritage(国家文物局) had announced the length of the Great wall as 6,000 km in the mid 2000s and as 8,851 km in 2009, and then extended it to 21,196.18 km in 2012.

Even as of 2020, China is distortedly promoting worldwide that the Great Wall had extended to Pyongyang of the Korean peninsula.

The fortresses of the Goguryeo Kingdom(37 B.C.E. – C.E. 668) and Balhae Kingdom(C.E. 698 – 926) from Korean history is now being included in the Great Wall of China.

The Chinese government has been making a distorted claim that, based on the current border, all fortresses within its territory are parts of the Great Wall of China, and through this, China is trying to make Goguryeo and Balhae into Chinese history.

Once the project to expand China’s history and geographic boundaries, including extending the length of the Great Wall, is completed, China will justify its invasion of foreign territories, which will serve as a momentum to expand its hegemony into neighboring countries.

Accordingly, VANK intends to create “World Peace” by notifying the world about China’s history distortion.

https://chng.it/xPsVh8Q4Kr

On the information board of the cultural heritage site in front of the Gwanggaeto Stele in Jian City, Jilin Province, China describes it incorrectly as “The monument of the Chinese nation(Zhonoghua Minzu)”.

Likewise, China has been promoting to the world that “the history of Goguryeo belongs to China”, also known as the Northeast Project.

The Northeast Project is a major research project promoted by Chinese government in 2002-2007 to turn all the history that took place within the Chinese border into Chinese history. Even though this project ended in 2007, the operation to impute the history of Goguryeo as to one of Chinese ethnic minorities or China’s history is now ongoing. The project distorted Goguryeo-era territories into Chinese lands in maps of major world history textbooks, museums and historical sites around the world.

VANK informs the world of China’s history distortion, and tells the world of the reality of the Northeast Project.

VANK aims to stop historic and territorial hegemony of China with people around the world through a Global Petition.

https://chng.it/WzrSVZjkjH

VANK is in progress with a Global petition to inform UNESCO member states around the world about the issue of the largest bronze ware remains on the Korean peninsula concealed under the Legoland development.

Could the international society admit it if Stonehenge of the United Kingdom, Parthenon of Greece, the Pyramids in Egypt, the Colosseum of Rome were demolished to make way for a Legoland?

The Legoland is being built after demolishing a Jungdo historic site, one of the most remarkable prehistoric sites in the Republic of Korea. The Total amount of relics that have been excavated so far is 9,000 prehistoric relics, 1,266 prehistoric house sites, and 149 prehistoric tombs. The Jungdo heritage site in Republic of Korea is one of the most remarkable prehistoric site in the world. Damage to culturla property belonging to any people whatsoever means damage to the cultural heritage of all mankind, since each people makes its contribution to the culture of the world. If the construction of the Legoland is continued, therefore, the world-class prehistoric relics that have not been found yet will be destroyed without excavation.

The culture and beliefs of humankind in the Jungdo site are deliberately destroyed by the short-sighted development policy, and we are on the verge of losing the important opportunity to see, hear, and learn about expression and ideas of humankind. The international community recognizes the importance of the protection of cultural heritage and takes responsibility to fight against its intentional destruction in any form so that such cultural heritage may be transmitted to the succeeding generations. According to the UNESCO Declaration concerning the International Destruction of Cultural HEritage, the members of UNESCO should cooperate with each other and with UNESCO to protect cultural heritage from international destruction.

Accordingly, VANK is proceeding with a Global Petition for UNESCO headquarters and UNESCO member states around the world.

https://chng.it/6JqYTR898S

The U.S. CIA was established as an agency directly under the President of the United States in accordance with the National Security Act in 1947 after the World War Ⅱ, to collect information at the national level, and collects, analyzes, and reports information about foreign governments, businesses, and key people, and then reports it to each department of the U.S. government. The problem is that the basic information about Korea is incorrect on the U.S. CIA website, which emphasizes global credibility and accuracy.

The CIA marked the East Sea as the Sea of Japan alone, and Dokdo as Liancourt Rocks, and Dokdo/Takeshima in the description. Liancourt Rocks is a name that Japan promotes to third countries in order not to recognize Korea’s ownership of Dokdo and is derived from the French Whaling ship which discovered Dokdo in 1849. This is not the only error about Korea on the CIA web site. Even though Ulleung island’s jurisdiction is on North Gyeongsangbuk-do, the CIA is introducing it’s jurisdiction belongs to Gangwon-do, and it introduces Korean and English as Korea’s official language.

https://chng.it/zvjjkJfpmY

Due to the COVID-19, the world’s attention is focused on the WHO. Not only worldwide broadcasts and media, but each country’s authorities, educational institutions, and portal sites are also focusing on the WHO’s realtime data of the COVID-19. WHO, an international organization that is obliged to provide right information to the world, is providing wrong information regarding Korean territory Ulleung Island and Dokdo Island.

On the ‘Countries – Republic of Korea’ page of the WHO web site, Ulleung Island and Dokdo Island are missing on the map of Korea. However, on the page introducing Japan, the map includes Korea’s Ulleung Island and Dokdo Island. The map of Japan includes Japanese islands in detail(including many islands on the Pacific ocean, but on the other hand, Korea’s Ulleung Island and Dokdo Island of the East Sea being excluded on the map of Korea is deemed intentional.

If the WHO neglects this inaccurate map on the web site, it might provide distorted information about Korean territory Ulleung Island and Dokdo Island as Japanese territory to the people from all around the world who visit the web site to search for the information about the COVID-19. Accordingly, VANK launches a global petition campaign to correct distorted information on WHO web site.

https://chng.it/GfzFgTBFbM

In the Olympic Museum that opened on September 14th, 2019, colonial Joseon-born marathoner Olympic gold medalist Sohn Kee-chung and bronze medalist Nam Sung-yong are simply represented by their Japanese name and Japanese nationality even though 75 years have passed after the end of Japanese imperialism.

In response, we request the Japan Olympic Museum to correct the information of athletes Sohn Kee-chung and Nam Sung-yong.

This is not damaging Japan’s Olympic record and history.

It is a request to understand and sympathize the pain and disgrace experienced by the athletes who had lost their country, and to find the true history of the athletes’ own country and name. We hope the Olympic Spirit that the Olympic Museum seeks to realize is not a hollow will. Please do not forget that friendship, solidarity, and peace are feasible when there is understanding, empathy, and consideration for the surroundings. We ask the Olympic Museum and the Japanese Olympic Committee to truly practice the Olympic Spirit as a host country.

https://chng.it/MsgLqJNgsd

VANK is in progress with a Global Petition to inform the international community about the reality of the Japanese government that has distorted history of forced labor by Koreans in the Report of Warship island (also known as Hashima island) submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

In 2015, upon Japan’s registration of the Hashima island and 22 other Meiji modern industrial facilities in Japan to the UNESCO World Heritage committee, Japan has committed that they are ready to take steps to let people understand that in the 1940s during World War Ⅱ in several facilities, many Koreans and people from other countries were drawn against their will and forced to work in harsh environments. Accordingly, UNESCO advised that Japan prepare and faithfully execute an interpretation strategy to let people understand the entire history of each facility. However, the Japanese government is ignoring the recommendations of UNESCO and does not include measures to honor the victims or recognize forced labor of Koreans. In response, VANK seeks to disclose the Japanese government for utterly disregarding UNESCO’s recommendations and commitments made to the international community, and to inform the international community that UNESCO, which neglects irresponsibility for the Japanese government that ignores UNESCO’s recommendations, also has a problem.

https://chng.it/7RTy2bTL5d

VANK is in progress with a Global Petition calling for attention from the world over the distortion of textbooks by the Japanese government that started from 2020.

The Japanese government is spreading militarism to the Japanese youth through textbooks that glorify the war of aggression. In 2017, Japan’s Abe administration made a decision (upon by the Cabinet) to use the ‘Imperial Rescript on Education’, a symbol of militaristic education, as a school textbook, emphasizing loyalty to the Japanese Emperor. The content that denies the history of Japanese imperialist aggression is reflected in the textbooks starting from primary school textbooks in 2020, middle school textbooks in 2021, and high school textbooks in 2022. Representatively, the Japanese elementary school textbook, Nihon Bunkyo Publishing, 6th grade textbook denied the history of imperialist aggression by introducing that “the Russo-Japanese War gave people awareness and hope for independence in various Asian countries.” And also, the Tokyo Shoseki(a textbook company) published in the 6th grade textbook that “there was an incident where a large number of Koreans and Chinese were murdered in the Great Kanto Earthquake“, and a historical distortion was made that did not clearly reveal the subject of the incident.

Even the Tsukamoto kindergartners in Osaka, supported by the administration, prepare to sacrifice their lives for the Emperor while memorizing educational rules, a symbol of militarism. The Abe’s administration trains kindergarteners as militarist subjects who prepare for confrontation and war.

Distorted history textbooks teach war to the next generation of Japan. In response, VANK is launching a petition on the world’s largest petition site to urge Japan’s Abe administration to stop intervening in history education and to revise distorted textbook narratives in order to properly inform the international community of Japan’s reviving militarism.

Global issues

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://bridgeasia.net/bridging-issues/view.jsp?sno=27

We are against Japan’s registration of Sado Mine as a UNESCO World Heritage.

Prevent Japan from whitewashing forced labor of the past by exploiting the UNESCO World Heritage System!

The Japanese government which has already broken its promise to remember forced labor of the past in Hashima Island((Battleship Island) is trying to register Sado Mine, another location with the history of forced labor, as a UNESCO World Heritage.

Unless Japan genuinely reflects on its war of aggression of the past and fulfills its promise towards peace, we are against Japan’s registration of Sado Mine as a UNESCO World Heritage.

The Japanese government has been using the World Heritage System as a means of erasing the memory of forced labor and war of aggression.

This has been ongoing since the registration of Hashima Island in 2015. Japan registered the Hashima Island as a World Heritage after promising to add clear statement of the history of forced labor in Hashima Island. Then, Japan erased the memory of forced labor.

Hashima Island in which Koreans were forced into labor during the colonial era, is a legacy of Imperialist Japan that started the World War Ⅱ. Japan registered the island as a World Heritage after setting terms that they will state the facts about forced labor that happened in the island. Back then, Sato Kuni, the Japanese ambassador to UNESCO stated as follows: “There were a large number of Koreans and others who were brought against their will and ‘forced to work’ under harsh conditions and Japan is prepared to incorporate appropriate measures into the interpretive strategy to remember the victims.”

However, Japan did not keep this promise. Japan committed history distortion by displaying a testimony that ‘Korean forced laborers in Hashima Island were fiction’ on the Industrial Heritage Information Center in Tokyo. In 2017, Japan erased the term “forced labor” in its progress report to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. In 2019, Japan erased the entire statement regarding forced labor, and in 2020, described that forced laborers worked in the same environment as Japanese workers.

In 2022, Japan is once again trying to erase the history of forced labor. Japan is trying to register the Sado Mine where forced labor was carried out as a UNESCO World Heritage. Sado Mine, operated by Mitsubishi Mining Co., Ltd, was used as a mine to secure war supplies during the Pacific War. According to a research report on Korean laborers in Sado Mine, Japan had forced around 1,200 to 2,000 Koreans into labor in order to secure war supplies.

By registering Sado Mine as a World Heritage, Japan is trying to erase the past of forced labor and war of aggression, and remember only the splendid glory of Japan’s success in industrialization.

To remember is to promise the future.

We call for Japan to genuinely reflect on its past of forced labor and war of aggression, and we ask Japan to promise a peaceful future with its neighbors.

We ask the following:

First, we demand the Japanese government to describe the history of forced labor in Hashima Island before registering Sado Mine as a World Heritage.

Second, we demand UNESCO to reject Japan’s World Heritage registration request unless the Japanese government keeps its promise to memorialize forced laborers in Hashima Island.

https://www.bridgeasia.net/bridging-issues/view.jsp?sno=9

The United Nations is not following the principle that it has made on its own.

By breaking the international principle that the UN had made by itself, the UN is marking ‘Sea of Japan’ exclusively on its home page rather than ‘East Sea.’

At this moment, the UN web site providing geospatial information of the world is only marking ‘Sea of Japan’, while excluding ‘East Sea’ on its home page.

https://www.un.org/geospatial/mapsgeo/webservices

This is a violation of the international principle issued by the UN itself. In 1977, the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names(UNCSGN) announced the principle and adopted the resolution that bordering or neighboring countries that persist in using only the name each prefers to agree on a common name and, if they fail to do so, to use both names concurrently.

Therefore, the UN using this map which is only marking ‘Sea of Japan’ is violating its own principle.

Above all, while well known world-wide publishers and cartographic companies are marking both ‘East Sea’ and ‘Sea of Japan’ on its maps, the UN violating its own principle is not an exemplary behavior.

Today, National Geographic, Dorling Kindersley and Lonely Planet, the most well-known cartographic company, textbook publisher, and travel guidebook publisher, respectively, is marking both ‘East Sea’ and ‘Sea of Japan’ on its published materials. In 2000, only 3% of world maps at that time marked the ‘East Sea’ but for 2021, more than 40% of world maps include the notation ‘East Sea.’

Also, in 2014, the State of Virginia in the United States have passed the ‘East Sea Bill’, and in 2019, the State of New York updated a portion of curriculum involving the ‘East Sea,’ so that all textbooks published since mark the ‘East Sea’

<Related articles>

Virginia passed the East Sea Bill

East Sea in New York

The United Nations should follow its own principle and notate both ‘East Sea’ and ‘Sea of Japan’ on its homepage.

We request the United Nations to correct its notation ‘Sea of Japan’ to ‘East Sea/Sea of Japan’.

https://chng.it/jVhXwv9J7Q

Japanese ambassador to Australia is using the city of Darwin, Australia, which was bombarded by Japanese Imperial Army during World War Ⅱ, as a tool for publicizing the Rising Sun Flag.

On February 19, 1942, 188 bombers of Imperial Japan strafed Darwin, a northern port city of Australia and around 250 Allied Forces soldiers including Australian soldiers lost their lives due to the bombing.

The Japanese Imperial Army tried to destroy Australian base in Darwin, which served as a supply base for the Allies, so that the obstacle to its invasion of Southeast Asia could be removed.

Bombing of Darwin is also known as “Australian ‘Pearl Harbor'”, as it came after two months of attack on Pearl Harbor.

However, on September 2021, the Japanese government is using the city of Darwin, which Japan had strafed, as a tool for publicizing the Rising Sun Flag, a symbol of Imperial Japan’s war crimes.

A tweet regarding the Rising Sun Flag by Japanese ambassador to Australia Yamagami Shingo is causing problems recently, as he tweeted and promoting the symbol of imperial aggression and war crime to Australians.

The Japanese ambassador to Australia’s act of using Darwin as a tool for publicizing the Rising Sun Flag is showing Japan’s perception of history that Japan is not reflecting on its crimes of aggression.

The Australian government should stop Japanese government from using Darwin as a tool towards the global society for whitewashing its history of aggression.

The Rising Sun Flag is a flag used by Imperial Japan and it symbolizes Imperial Japan’s war of aggression.

Especially to Asians, who suffered from Imperial Japan’s invasion a hundred years ago, Japan’s Rising Sun Flag is identical to Hakenkreuz of the Nazis.

Hoisting the Rising Sun Flag in front, the Japanese Imperial Army started the Pacific War from 1941 to 1945 and invaded many Asian countries.

Japanese imperialism colonized Korea forcibly from 1910 to 1945, made the Korean peninsula a huge prison, and in order to annihilate Koreans’ will for independence, tortured and murdered Koreans all the time.

Japanese imperialism plundered human and material resources of the Korean peninsula and damaged the Korean language and culture. They extended towards all parts of Asia-Pacific, and numerous war crimes such as murder, torture, sexual slavery, rape, and exploitation were committed.

More than 20 million Asians had lost their lives as a result. The Rising Sun Flag is the military flag used by Imperial Japan during war of aggression.

After the loss at war, since 9154, Japan has designated and used the Rising Sun Flag as the flag for the Ground and Maritime Self-defense Forces.

The Japanese government has been claiming that the Rising Sun Flag is being used in everyday life, and that it not a tool for political propaganda. However, the Japanese government has been concealing the fact that the Rising Sun Flag is a symbol hoisted in front when the Japanese army invaded neighboring countries.

Above all, ultra-rightist organizations are using this Rising Sun Flag when holding discriminatory Anti-Korea protests.

The Australian government must stop the Japanese government from using the city of Darwin to conceal the Rising Sun flag, the flag representing war crime, and to whitewash Japan’s history of aggression to the international community.

The Australian government must stop the Japanese ambassador’s efforts to promote the Rising Sun Flag to the world using Darwin that was bombarded during World War II by Japan.

Accordingly, we demand the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to strongly warn about the Japanese ambassador’s statement promoting the Rising Sun Flag, and to take measures that the flag never be used again in Australia.

 

<Information on the Rising Sun Flag>

* The Symbol of Japanese imperialism history: The Rising Sun Flag

maywespeak.com/worldwar2

* The Truth about the Rising Sun Flag

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXr9PXWCGwo&t=30s

* Ban the Rising Sun Flag

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhkEMkxOGuQ&t=114s

* The Rising Sun Flag, the symbol of Japanese militarism and imperialist war!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Pzo6yXnJ34&t=253s

https://www.change.org/DoNotTouchMyClothes

Do not force us to wear burka! #DoNotTouchMyClothes

On August 15, 2021, after the Taliban retook control over Afghanistan in 20 years, they made a promise to the international community to respect women’s rights.

But on September 13, the Taliban made sexual discrimination official by announcing “Women should not work alongside men.”

According to a senior Taliban figure Waheedullah Hashimi stated, “Sharia does not allow men and women to get together or sit together under one roof. Men and women cannot work together. That is clear. They are not allowed to come to our offices and work in our ministries.” in an interview with the Reuters,

He also emphasized that ‘ban on women’ will not be only applied to government agencies, but also to some private sectors such as media or banks, and that there will be segregated facilities such as hospitals, universities, schools for women.

Moreover, the Taliban have mercilessly lashed out at an Afghan woman who staged a protest,

The Taliban have even shot a woman not wearing a burka, a head-to-ankle robe, and opened fire on protesters against the Taliban’s rule.

On August 18, Fox News reported a photo of a dead woman, covered in blood in Taleqan, Takhar province. On the image, a woman wearing a deep-blue dress is lying in a pool of blood on the ground, and people are crouching around not knowing what to do. She was shot to death by a Taliban after she left her home without wearing burka.

As such, the Taliban ignored the “respect for women’s rights” promise to the international community after taking control of Afghanistan, and reverted to the past period, 1996-2001, when women’s rights to education and labor were suppressed.

In response, Afghan women began to show that burka is not an Afghan culture, and in order to inform the international community of misinformation spread by the Taliban, they are protesting by posting photos of them wearing colorful and beautiful Afghan traditional clothes on their social media with hashtag #DoNotTouchMyClothes.

Dr. Bahar Jalali who started “#DoNotTouchMyClothes” campaign noted “burka is not Afghan culture”, and many Afghan women stated “Afghanistan is a land full with beautiful colors”, emphasizing “This is what the Taliban is trying to conceal, but we will tell the world of our true selves.”

Afghan women who joined the campaign stated, “Burka is not our traditional clothes. It does not represent us.”, “The beautiful clothes that reveal the faces are our traditional clothes.”, “In order to conserve the achievements of the past 20 years, it is something that has to be done at any risk.”

The Taliban professed to respect women’s rights when they retook control over Afghanistan in 20 years, but continues its policy of suppressing women.

We demand the Taliban to keep the promise to respect women’s rights.

We hope people from all over the world to join the hashtag campaign “#DoNotTouchMyClothes” and the issue of women’s rights in Afghanistan to be widely known.

https://chng.it/kQCFGY26Jg

What would you do if the German government in the 21st century included the school that educated Nazi war criminals in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a proud heritage of German history? What would you do if a teacher that taught Nazi war criminals is falsified as a great teacher and publicized to the world?

A Japanese educational institution that taught students to invade neighboring countries has become and known to the world as a proud World Heritage Site.

Shokasonjuku Academy, a private academy led by Yoshida Shoin, is a place where Japanese national leaders who launched Meiji Restoration were nurtured, and is a place where the idea of imperialist war of aggression was conceived.

In 2015, the Japanese government registered Meiji modern industrial facilities including Shokasonjuku Academy into UNESCO World Heritage List.

In Japan, Yoshida Shoin(1830-1859) who led Shokasonjuku Academy is deemed as a hero that formed the proud Meiji era, but to the people that suffered from Imperialist Japan’s aggression, he is regarded as a teacher who raised war criminals.

 

{Main messages of Yoshida Shoin’s letters to his pupils}

“By invading and controlling Joseon, Manchuria, and China, which are prone to invasion, Japan should be compensated with the land of Joseon and Manchuria for what Japan had lost through trade with Russia.”

“Western powers will retreat by themselves if Japan shows a dignified and progressive momentum by making many worships and conquering Hokkaido to the north and Joseon to the west.”

“If Japan were to occupy Joseon and Manchuria, Ulleungdo must be used as the first stepping stone.”

 

Pupils who followed Yoshida Shoin such as Ito Hirobumi, the 1st Resident General of Japanese Residents-General of Korea, later spearheaded the invasion of the Korean peninsula.

Back then, Japan claimed that it did not colonize Joseon to invade Joseon, but colonized Joseon to defend Japan from the threat of Joseon.

Japan also rationalized that the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) were also meant to protect Japan from the Qing Dynasty and Russia, hiding the fact that those wars were for Japan’s imperial ambitions.

Eventually, Japan won both wars and gained dominance on the Korean peninsula, and by plundering resources of Asia, Japan accumulated enormous wealth and invested in its munitions industry, subsequently causing World War Ⅱ.

Yoshida Shoin and his pupils destroyed peace in Asia and because of them, horrific war crimes, the tragedies in human history, occurred.

However, after hiding historical facts of all this, the Japanese government registered Shokasonjuku Academy as a UNESCO World Heritage in 2015.

If the Japanese government had genuinely reflected on its past imperialist wars of aggression and considered the people and countries that suffered from Japanese war of aggression, Japan would not have listed Shokasonjuku as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which raised the war criminals who started the imperialist war of aggression.

Shokasonjuku Academy should not be falsified nor known to the international community as a proud UNESCO World Heritage Site

Above all, the reason the Japanese government registered Shokasonjuku Academy on the UNESCO World Heritage List is to whitewash the atrocities of Japanese imperialist war of aggression and its image as a country that committed war crimes in the World War Ⅱ.

Therefore, we urge UNESCO to implement the following requirements

We urge UNESCO to thoroughly scrutinize Shokasonjuku Academy whether or not it conforms to the peace pursued by UNESCO.

We demand UNESCO to confirm that Shokashonjuku Academy is an educational institution that conceived the idea of imperialist war of aggression.

We request UNESCO to put pressure on the Japanese government to take steps to faithfully convey the overall history of Shokasonjuku Academy.

 

{Video : The Challenges Faced by Korean Youth-21st Century Revival of Yoshida Shōin’s Imperialism}

https://youtu.be/VSKIilRs4cc

https://www.change.org/korean_hanbok

In the early 2000s, the Chinese government registered Hanbok as its ‘national intangible cultural asset’ under the pretext of protecting the culture of ethnic minorities, calling it the ‘traditional clothing of ethnic minority Koreans’.

The ‘traditional clothing of ethnic minority Koreans’ that the Chinese government labeled as its national intangible asset is introduced in the Baidu Enyclopedia under the pretext of promoting the clothing of ethnic minority Koreans in China, but Hanbok is also introduced as Chinese clothing.

A bigger problem is that, in the description of the ‘clothing of ethnic minority Koreans’, Hanbok is registered as a non-material cultural heritage of China under the name of ‘costume of ethnic minority Koreans’, and that famous Korean celebrities such as Kim Tae-hee wearing hanbok are introduced on the same page.

Hanbok, a traditional clothing of Korea and Koreans, is a matter of Korean’s identity and pride.

The claim that Hanbok is a Chinese clothing ignores the cultural diversity and identity of other ethnic groups.

Nevertheless, the Chinese government is trying to control other countries and nations with ‘Zhonghua(Chinese) Nationalism(Zhonghua Minzuzhuyi, 中华民族主義)’ in order to reorganize the world order centered on China. China is trying to embrace all 55 ethnic minorities as one nation and is advocating ‘Zhounghua(Chinese) nation(Zhonghua Minzu, 中华民族) by clearing borders between ethnic groups, distorting facts, and not allowing opinions different from the distorted facts and going on a path to keep others silent.

China demands that Hanbok should not be described as a traditional clothing of Korea because it is influenced by China and is the clothing of the ethnic minority Koreans in China. Regarding this claim, we criticize China for interpreting and absorbing nations within today’s borders, and suppressing the unique traditions and expressions of other peoples. Preventing Korean traditional clothing from being called as Korean traditional clothing and claiming those to be ‘Zhounghua(Chinese) nation(Zhonghua Minzu, 中华民族)’s clothes are acts of denying and damaging the identity of other ethnic groups.

This attitude and conducts of China have been going on for over 20 years.

Since 2002, through the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Chinese government has been constantly trying to incorporate all the history of the northeast region of China into Chinese history by the Northeast Project. Also when the Korean drama ‘Daejanggeum(Jewel in the Palace)’, which aired in 2003 drew a media frenzy in China, in 2020 China produced and aired the Chinese drama ‘尙食(shangshi)’, which is very similar in content and plot to Jewel in the Palace. Chinese influencers who followed China’s distortion of Hanbok through this drama made and spread videos saying, “Hanbok belongs to the Ming Dynasty of China. Koreans should know this too.”

Besides, in 2020, A Chinese company Papergames Inc., commemorating the launching of a new mobile styling game ‘Shining Nikki’ in Korea, started its first event by selling Hanbok items, traditional Korean clothing, simultaneously in Korea and China. Regarding this event, Chinese internet users who claimed Hanbok as a Chinese culture, argued, ‘It is a Chinese Ming Dynasty clothing’, or ‘Hanbok is a clothing of ethnic minority Koreans living in China so it is Chinese clothing’. Papergaems Inc. expressed its position on this issue as follows: “As a ‘One China’ company, the positions of Papergames and our country(China) are always consistent. We will actively fulfill our responsibility and mission as a Chinese company”, and just a week after the launch, the company deleted the Hanbok items and declared business withdrawal in Korea. It did not apologize for demeaning of Hanbok and Korean culture.

Also, regarding the daily life Hanbok products collaborated by SPA brand SPAO and daily life Hanbok brand LEESLE, many Chinese netizens protested forcibly, saying ‘Do not take away the traditional clothes of China.’

Above all, we should stop China from promoting Hanbok to the international community by disguising it as Chinese culture under the pretext of promoting it as traditional clothing of ethnic minority Koreans in China.

Even on YouTube, a video platform that has been blocked from access in China by the Chinese government, Korean Hanbok is promoted to the world as a clothing of the ethnic minority Koreans in China.

For example, in 2019, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, Yanbian University produced a video of singing “My People, My Country”, one of China’s patriotic songs. On the video, a girl wearing Hanbok starts singing, followed by many people wearing Hanbok and singing in Chinese and Korean(Korean language used by ethnic Koreans in China).

In addition, EXO’s LAY, an idol who was active in Korea who appeared on a program ‘This is hip-hop, Season 3′(这!就是街舞第三季), commented “They expressed Arirang and Korean fan dance of ethnic Koreans (in China) well with hip-hop” about the Chinese participants who performed Arirang and Korean fan dance, wearing Hanbok,

If we leave this alone, Korean Hanbok could be distorted as clothes of ethnic Koreans living in China.

If China continues this claim, all traditional culture in Korea may be known to have originated from China and to be misrepresented as belonging to the ethnic minority Koreans in China.

Hanbok, one of the symbols of the splendid culture in Korean history, should be prevented from being promoted in China and the international community as a ethnic minority Koreans’ clothing of China.

If China continues to promote Hanbok as a clothing of ethnic minority Koreans in China, foreigners who do not know about Hanbok may receive misinformation and think Hanbok as a traditional Chinese clothing.

We need to actively respond to China’s promotion of Hanbok as the ‘traditional clothing of ethnic minority Koreans’ to the international community as China’s traditional clothing and culture.

In response to China’s distribution of false and distorted information to the world, we must actively inform the world that Hanbok is Korea’s traditional clothing by participating in the petition.

We demand the following to the Chinese government and Baidu.

  1. The Chinese government should stop invading and distorting Korean traditions and culture, including Hanbok.
  2. Baidu should correct the introduction of Hanbok that stated it as “clothing of ethnic minority Koreans” and clarify that Hanbok is not a Chinese clothing.

https://chng.it/j6DP8SBDTX

Manhattan School of Music should penalize Pinchas Zukerman who expressed racist comments to Korean, Chinese and Japanese musicians!

Did you know? Worldly renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman expressed racist comments to Korean, Chinese and Japanese musicians!

Born in Israel, Jewish prof. Zukerman now teaches in Manhattan School of Music. His parents survived in Polish Nazi Concentration Camp and settled in Israel in 1947.

But the one that has kept the history of pain expressed racist comments to Asians during a virtual masterclass hosted by the Juilliard School in 25th June.

After saying “If you don’t know how to play, then sing it” to two sisters of Asian descent sisters, Zukerman, not satisfied with the performance, said “I know in Korea, they don’t sing.”

Remarks that “they don’t sing” is a metaphorical expression of criticism for the lack of artistry and musicality.

Zukerman asked, “Then where are you from?” to the sisters who said they were not Korean, and to the answer that they were of Japanese descent, he said, “It’s the same that Japanese people don’t sing.”

At the end of the class, Zukerman said “Koreans don’t sing, It’s not in their DNA”, and this astonished the audiences of the real-time class.

Seem to be aware of “It’s not in their DNA” remarks, the Juilliard which were to upload all the virtual classes video on its homepage, uploaded videos except Zukerman’s lecture.

This is not the first time Zukerman expressed racist remarks.

In the past, Zukerman also said “You guys in China, you never use metronome. You just go fast, fast and loud, because when you go fast and loud, you think you go number one. I don’t think so, okay?”

Such remarks can cause serious problems in that they demean performers from Korea, China and Japan by locking them in the frame of racial stereotypes.

Due to the Covid-19, cases of hate crime towards Asians around the world has soared recently.

Above all, we should stop influential individuals like Zukerman from racially discriminating Asians.

If we cannot stop the spread of racism through world-famous figures, a second Holocaust tragedy could come before humanity.

Even the worst war crimes in mankind, in which 17 million people were slaughtered by the Nazis, started with racism.

The tragedy of Auschwitz, in which more than one million people were sacrificed for no reason, began with discrimination, hatred and oppression.

We should prevent racial discrimination and hate that created Holocaust and Auschwitz from reviving in the 21st century.

Therefore, we request the Manhattan School of Music to penalize Pinchas Zukerman.

We also demand Mr. Zukerman’s sincerest apology and introspection.

https://www.change.org/tokyo_2020

The International Olympic Committee(IOC) Executive Board shall investigate and take disciplinary actions on the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games for violations of the Olympic Charter.

The Japanese government marked Korean Island Dokdo as its own territory on the 2020 Tokyo Olympic map. The map of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, which Japanese government put forward as the ground for the claim, was found to be fabricated. In fact, Dokdo was not marked on the map of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, but the Japanese government redrawn Dokdo in order to claim Dokdo as Japanese territory at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

This action by the Japanese government is obviously violating Rule 50(2) of the Olympic Charter.

The Rule 50(2) of the Olympic Charter prescribes that ‘No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.’

Then, what are the “political” actions that the Olympic Charter prohibits?

Any action that reveals one’s identity can correspond to a “political” action. If any action that reveals identity are prohibited whatsoever, this would be violating freedom of expression.

If so, political actions prohibited by the Olympic Charter should be limited to actions that violate the Olympic Spirit. In other words, only those political actions that are against the Olympic Spirit of fair play, friendship and respect should be banned.

Based on this interpretation, Japan’s action obviously violates Rule 50(2) of the Olympic Charter.

Japan claims that it owns the territory of a neighboring country that Japan had acquired once through colonial rule. Not only Japan has betrayed its friendship and respect for its neighbors, but is also undermining the spirit of fair play by fabricating the basis for its claims.

Republic of Korea has once embraced IOC’s proposal not to mark Dokdo on the Korean Peninsula Flag even though Dokdo is Korea’s inherent territory. It is a matter of course for Koreans to mark their own territory with a painful history of encroachment on the Korean Peninsula Flag, but it was a concession in accordance with the Olympic Spirit of prioritizing friendship and respect in the Olympic Games.

However, the IOC remains silent on the same issue that Japan marked Dokdo as its territory.

We request the following:

1. The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games should, by itself, delete the map that marked Republic of Korea’s territory Dokdo as Japan’s territory, and as a host country, apologize for the acts of violating the Olympic Spirit.

2. The IOC Executive Board shall go through fact-finding procedure and take corrective and disciplinary action on the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Japan Olympic Committee(JOC) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in accordance with Rule 59 of the Olympic Charter.

https://chng.it/vBzxQKYVVb

We accuse China’s cultural imperialism hidden behind games!

Stop China’s cultural imperialist policy of promoting history distortion and cultural invasion with games!

The Chinese government has introduced a new scoring system for authorization of game services(a.k.a. 版号 bǎnhào).

The new scoring system is divided into five categories : “idea orientation”, “original design”, “production quality”, “cultural connotation”, and “level of development”. The best for each category is 5 points, and the game service is permitted only when an average of 3 or more is scored. However, if even one category gets 0 points, approval of the game service authorization will be rejected.

Particularly problematic are two categories; “idea orientation” and “cultural connotation”. It is stated that the “idea orientation” category evaluates whether the game theme, player role, and main play method conform to “Socialist core values”, and the “cultural connotation” category judges whether the game could disseminate “China’s remarkable culture”.

After all, in order for an individual or a company to release a game in China, they must praise Socialism even if they are against their own ideas, and must remain silent without expressing their national identity.

This is an excessive violation of the freedom of thought and conscience stipulated in Article 18 and the freedom of expression stipulated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

The Chinese government’s addition of “Socialism” and “dissemination of China’s remarkable culture” as criteria for approving games discriminates against people of different ideologies, political views, and ethnic origins by limiting their freedom to form, express, and communicate their opinions freely.

We oppose China’s excessive nationalism.

We oppose the system of unilaterally imposing China’s ideas and culture on the world citizens.

Therefore, we demand the following:

The UNHRC(United Nations Human Rights Council) should express concern over the Chinese government’s racist policy on game scoring system that violates freedom of expression.

The Chinese government should review its new scoring system for authorization of game services.

https://chng.it/CPTYGkY8Kh

The United Nations should take action to eradicate IUU of Chinese illegal fishing vessels.

People and countries around the world are suffering from overseas illegal fishing of Chinese vessels.

The scale of People’s Republic of China’s illegal fishing is the biggest in the world.

In January 2019, China Ranked 1st on IUU Fishing Index with the score of 3.93.

According to Ecotrust Canada’s Spyglass database, between 2010 and 2019, Chinese fishing boats were responsible for 21% of the world’s illegal fishing.

Illegal fishing of Chinese fishing vessels extends from the East China Sea up close to the coasts of Africa and South America.

As of April each year, the number of illegal Chinese fishing vessels in the waters near the Northern Limit Line on the west coast of Korea soared to an average of 240 per day (2021), and in recent years, dozens of Chinese ships off the coast of West Africa have invaded the shallow waters of Ghana, creating friction with Ghanaian fishermen.

The governments of Chile, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador have issued a joint statement over concerns about the “clean-sweep operations” of large-scale Chinese deep-sea(pelagic) fishing vessel fleets that have flocked to South America.

We call on the United Nations and the Chinese government to actively crack down on illegal fishing of Chinese fishing vessels based on international norms.

According to Article 6.11 of ‘Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries’, States should ensure that the activities of fishing and fishing support vessels flying their flags do not undermine the effectiveness of conservation and management measures taken in accordance with international law and adopted at the national, subregional, regional or global levels.

The Chinese government must come up with effective measures to crack down on illegal fishing.

To eradicate IUU(illegal, unreported, unregulated) fishing, the Member States of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO) signed the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing(2009 FAO Port State Measures Agreement), and in 2017, the FAO has designated June 5 as the International Day for the Fight against IUU Fishing(ID-IUU) to commemorate the entry into force of the Agreement.

In order to eradicate IUU, the United Nations should seek measures to sanction Chinese illegal fishing vessels, which has emerged as a global problem.

Accordingly, VANK request the following:

First, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Coast Guard should crack down its own fishing vessels that are fishing illegally.

Second, the FAO should take action to eradicate the international reckless destruction of fishery resources by illegal fishing vessels of China.

https://chng.it/QpKpdQYMB4

Prevent Japanese teens from learning the textbooks that glorified the war of aggression!

Have you heard of Japanese textbooks that beautified “Great East Asia War”?

Distorted history textbooks teach war to the next generations of Japan.

On the Japanese middle school textbooks, published by Jiyusha, certified by MEXT, Japan, on 30th March, 2021, inserted a photo of American USS Arizona wrapped in flames. It also describes ‘Japan named the war as “Great East Asia War”.’

The phrase “Great East Asia War” is recognized as Japan gathered up Asia to fight against the Western Powers, and it implies the intention of concealing colonial rule and justifying war of aggression.

Accordingly, the GHQ that occupied Japan after the World War Ⅱ banned Japan from using the phrase “Great East Asia War” on official papers and the like.

If the international community cannot stop Japan from using textbooks that glorified the war of aggression, Japanese teens will be the threat to world peace.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC) Article 29, Section 1 (d), the education of the child shall be directed to the preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin. Japan has also ratified this Convention.

However, Japanese government is teaching children and teenagers about war rather than friendship.

It resulted from Japanese government actively recommending the publishers for correction.

The Japanese government stipulates understanding neighboring countries’ agony and anger as ‘自虐史観(じぎゃくしかん)’, evaluating its history more negatively and degradingly than necessary, and requires students to look utterly only from Japan’s own perspective.

Accordingly, we are to confront Japanese history textbooks’ history distortion, with the United States, who suffered from Japan’s attacks on Pearl harbor, and countries who suffered from the Pacific War.

We request the United States who suffered from Japan’s attack on Pearl harbor, to counteract Japanese government’s history distortion.

We request the countries who suffered from the Pacific War, to counteract Japanese government’s history distortion.

We demand Japanese textbooks not to glorify invasion, war, and subjugation, but to center on understanding, peace, and friendship.

We demand Japanese textbooks to show balanced view on historic incidents of Asia-Pacific area.

We demand Japanese textbooks to face the lessons of history rather than avoiding the truth of history.

https://chng.it/x2z8F6Gn6Y

What if a novel that claims a daughter of a Nazi officer was raped by Jewish people, is used as a required textbook for American middle schools?

“So Far from the Bamboo Grove”, the novel that turns a perpetrator into a victim and a rapist into a victim!

Schools and the Department of Education of every state should stop using this book!

The book, “So Far From the Bamboo Grove” which has controversial history distortion issue, has been adopted as a required textbook by several Departments of Education of the United States and is being taught to middle school students.

“So Far From the Bamboo Grove” is an autobiographical novel by American-Japanese Yoko Kawashima Watkins published in 1986.

The book follows the plot of an 11-year-old Japanese girl Yoko, who lived with her mother and older sister, returning to Japan from North Hamgyeong Province, Korea, and her hard life in Japan around the end of World War Ⅱ.

However, in this novel, Koreans are described as wicked people and racists who raped and assaulted Japanese people who are returning home after the defeat of the War, while Japanese people are portrayed as unjust victims and wartime refugees.

If a student learns the contents of this book without knowing the history of East Asia and the history of Korea during the Japanese colonial period, the student will perceive history as distorted, as if Koreans were perpetrators and Japanese were victims. What’s worse is that this book, known to vividly depict the horrors of war that lasted long in the past, and because of its excellence literary value, this book is being used as an anti-war textbook for American schools, teachers, and teenagers. It was designated as a recommended and required-reading book in the language and social studies section of grades 6-8, and was introduced as a guidebook for American teachers.

In 2007, protest campaigns by Korean Americans led California State Government to expel the book from public schools, but it is still adopted as a “required reading” book in eight states, including Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, and Utah.

It is also used as a book for English learners at a community college in Oregon, and the World War Ⅱ museum in Louisiana recommends it for middle school students to learn more about war.

An educational reference book even says, “What did you learn about history from this novel? What did you learn about human nature? Use your answers to these questions to write a proposal to persuade a history teacher that this book would be a good addition to a World War Ⅱ history lesson.”

The book, which has repeatedly distorted history and portrayed Koreans as perpetrators and Japanese as victims, is introduced as a “true story”, and the petition against it being sold worldwide via Amazon can be found in more detail on the link below.

https://www.change.org/p/amazon-should-stop-selling-the-novel-so-far-from-the-bamboo-grove

 

“So Far From the Bamboo Grove” cunningly introduces a “novel” as if it were a “true story”. On the back cover of the book states “It’s a true story of courage and survival”, but on the other hand, on the second page of the book says “Summary: A fictionalized autobiography in which eleven-year-old Yoko escapes from Korea to Japan at the end of World War Ⅱ.”

It is said that the “truth” is the first thing to be sacrificed in war. To say that a novel that distorts the truth contains a “true story” is in itself absurd. The novel should not yet be taught to sutdents in middle school all over the U.S. as if it were a true story.

If one learns the novel without knowing about Imperialist Japan’s 35 years of forced occupation of the Korean Peninsula and the invasion of Asia, the one will understand the history of Asians, including Koreans suffering from Imperialist Japan, with misunderstandings and prejudices.

This novel added distortion to the truth that has already been damaged by the war itself. It is not an easy task to correct distortions of damaged truth and make it known in right way. However, correcting the distortions that have been prevalent in this book for nearly 40 years and bringing the truth right must begin now.

Schools and the Department of Education of every state should stop using this book!

In 2007, protest campaigns by Korean Americans led California State Government to expel the book from public schools, but as we saw earlier, many other states still use it as a required textbook or in classes, so we need Korean Americans’ active participation.

We demand the schools that belong to each state’s Department of Education listed below to stop using “So Far From the Bamboo Grove” in classes.

(in alphabetical order)

Colorado Department of Education

Connecticut Department of Education

Georgia Department of Education

Louisiana Department of Education

Massachusetts Department of Education

Nevada Department of Education

Ohio Department of Education

If you know any state(in addition to the states listed above), that teaches “So Far From the Bamboo Grove”, please let us know by email below. We will check it and add it to the list.

https://chng.it/XSDLbqHrz7

What if a novel that claims a daughter of a Nazi officer was raped by Jewish people, is sold as a bestseller on Amazon?

“So Far from the Bamboo Grove”, the novel that turns a perpetrator into a victim and a rapist into a victim!

Amazon should stop selling the novel, “So Far from the Bamboo Grove”.

On July 25, 2020, Amazon announced that it removed racist products being sold on its platform. In accordance with the new policy, Amazon have banned the sales of Hakenkreuz, White-supremacist flags, neo-Nazi books and Ku Klux Klan merchandise, and also have changed its sales algorithm to prohibit the sale of racist products.

We demand that the “So Far from the Bamboo Grove” be banned for sale in compliance with this policy.

Have you heard of the novel called “So Far from the Bamboo Grove”?

On Amazon, the book is being sold as a best seller around the world, ranking #124 in Children’s Violence Books (Books), #372 in Children’s Military Fiction (Books), and #447 in Children’s Asia Books.

The current introduction of the book on Amazon follows the contents of the back cover of this book as it is, introducing this book as a “true story” rather than a “fiction”.

Could a story of a Nazi girl suffering from the Jews after World War Ⅱ be distributed as a true story?

“So Far From the Bamboo Grove”, an autobiographical novel by American-Japanese Yoko Kawashima Watkins, contains the content that Japanese people were raped and assaulted by Koreans in the process of leaving Korea shortly before and after Japan’s defeat in World War Ⅱ.

This book encourages racism toward Koreans.

In this novel, Koreans are portrayed as perpetrators, or evil people, while Japanese are portrayed as unjust victims and war refugees. When teenagers around the world, including the United States, read this book without knowing the history of East Asia and the history of Korean during the Japanese colonial occupation at school, they will perceive that Koreans were the perpetrators and Japanese were the victims.

Amazon emphasizes in promoting the book that it is a novel written based on a true story, saying that it is a “Japanese version of Anne Frank’s Diary”. But in reality, through this book, Japanese war crimes are glossed over, and Koreans transformed into perpetrators and Japanese into victims.

What’s worse is that “So Far From the Bamboo Grove” is a novel that distorted historical facts.

This book also described that the main character Yoko took a train in the middle of the night, leaving behind an air raid by the US B-29 bomber that flew to Nanam, North Hamgyeong Province, where she lived.

However, in fact, the US (Army) Air Force did not directly bomb the Korean Peninsula at that time. The B-29 could not even afford to air strike the northern part of the Korean Peninsula due to its flight range.

Yoko described that there were many sexual assaults on Japanese by Koreans, so she and her mother wrapped their front of upper body to disguise themselves as men, and stood up when they needed to urinate. However, this description also lacks credibility. Even after the defeat of Japan, it still did not disarm on the Korean peninsula until the US and Soviet troops disarmed Japanese troops based on the 38th parallel. Rather, Koreans who were welcoming liberation were even killed by Japanese troops.

 

We demand Amazon the following:

First, Amazon should stop selling “So Far from the Bamboo Grove” that promotes racism and distorts history in accordance with it’s policy.

Second, Amazon should change the classification of “So Far from the Bamboo Grove” from “true story” to “fiction”, and state the danger of historical distortion in the introduction section of the book.

https://chng.it/k95wmyXLPk

#WITHASIANS

The fear coming from ignorance and difference is spreading with the pandemic.

According to Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council(A3PCON), 2,680 hate crimes occurred in 46 states of the United States in the last 12 months.

The number of Chinese-American victims reached 40.8%, followed by Korean-American(15.4%), Vietnamese-American(7.9%), Filipino-American(7.3%), Japanese-American(6.6%).

70.9% of hate crimes were verbal abuse, 10% were discrimination and denial of service in workplaces, physical attacks 9%, and 6.4% of cases were counted as intentionally coughing or spitting toward Asians.

Recently, physical attacks are happening more boldly and bluntly.

At the end of last month, in San Francisco, an 84-year-old Thai-American man was attacked when he was walking, hit his head on the floor, and died. Also in Oakland, a 91-year-old Asian-American man was targeted for hate crime and was severely injured.

 

The pandemic intensified human anxiety and suspicion, and this often paralyzes logical reasoning. This is the reality we are facing.

But it is our choice how to respond to the reality.

Hatred on minority is a wimpish and easy choice.

Hate crime perpetrators know that minorities didn’t do any wrong, but they are making the wimpish choice that easily relieves anxiety and gains a sense of belonging to majority.

We can make a more elegant choice. We should introspect on anxiety and band together.

We must reveal the reality of the false ideology that justifies hate and prejudice. Even if it is said that China is the epicenter of the pandemic, would any reason be there that Asian-Americans who have never been to China were to be the target of hate crime?

If we remain silent, false ideology will be justified and socially accepted.

We should not use others as a means of relieving sentiment without overcoming anxiety, but should overcome the fear that comes from ignorance and hold others’ hands and make change together.

Change does not start on a large scale. It starts with everyday practices.

– Thinking about the stereotypes I already have.

– Making complaints on the stereotypes that mass media produce.

– Sympathize with the victims of racism.

are what we have to do.

We should tell others that hatred toward others in this pandemic era is only a coward choice.

We must overcome the ignorance and discrimination, and start change with Asians!

If you have any everyday methods to stop racism

or, if you have witnessed any racist acts

or, if you have been racially discriminated,

Please leave a comment below or share this post with hashtag #WITHASIANS!

https://chng.it/QS2ppmHFPV

 

Please designate March 26, the day martyr Ahn Jung-geun died, as ‘the Day of Peace in East Asia’ as the UN International Day!

 

Ahn Jung-geun is a man who dreamed of ‘Peace in the East’ for freedom and peace against imperialism, and shot Hirobumi Ito in Harbin, who damaged peace in Asia.

 

Ahn proudly spoke of Hirobumi Ito’s crimes at the Kanto Court on February 14, 1910.

 

“I shot and killed Hirobumi Ito for ‘Peace in the East.'”

 

“Ito assassinated the Korean Queen Min (Empress Myeongseong, dethroned the Korean Emperor Gojong, forced the use of Japanese banknotes, disbanded the Korean armed forces, obstructed the education of Koreans, and Spread the rumor around the world that Korans wanted Japanese protection.”*

 

Ahn, who stood at the death row right before his death, said, “I hope that you will pray for peace in the East by uniting your heart and strength without distinguishing between Koreans and Japanese. I would like to take this opportunity to shout ‘Hurrah! Peace in East Asia!’ out loud three times, so let me do it.” He also told about ‘A Treatise on Peace in the East’ which he stopped writing while in Lüshun prison.

 

In Ahn’s ‘A Treatise on Peace in the East**’, he also presented concrete action plans such as organizing East Asia Peace Conference of Korea, China, and Japan, establishing a joint bank, and issuing currency.

 

 

Northeast Asia of the 21st century lies in the New Cold War era.

 

Confrontation and antagonism are intensifying due to North Korea’s nuclear missile threat, China’s hegemony over other peoples, and Japan’s denial of war crimes in World War .

 

Young Koreans, Chinese, Japanese youths remembering Ahn Jung-geun’s spirit should keep on writing ‘A Treatise on Peace in the East’ together which Ahn could not finish, based on reflection of structural violence committed in the name of colonialism and imperialism, and with respect for human dignity.

 

In order for youths of Northeast Asia to remember the spirit of Ahn Jung-geun and make a path toward peace in the East based on mutual respect,

 

We urge the governments of South Korea, China, and Japan to designate March 26, the day martyr Ahn Jung-geun died, as ‘the Day of Peace in East Asia.’

 

We urge the United Nations to designate March 26, the day martyr Ahn Jung-geun died, as ‘the Day of Peace in East Asia’ as the UN International Day.

 

 

* phrase translation script ref. @Ahn Jung-geun Memorial Museum

** translation ref. @Ahn Jung-geun Memorial Museum

https://chng.it/QS2ppmHFPV

 

“I saw a Joseon-person poisoning a well in Fukushima!”

 

This was posted on Twitter 18 minutes after a 7.3 Richter earthquake occurred in the waters off Fukushima Prefecture at 11:08 pm on February 13, 2021.

 

Amid the confusion of the Great Kanto Earthquake on September 1, 1923, rumors such as ‘The Joseon people poisoned the wells’ and ‘Joseon people are setting fire’ were spread, and thousands of Joseon people were slaughtered by vigilante corps.

 

Joseon people killed at that time is estimated to be more than 6,000.

 

The reason that tweet about the terrible genocide being able to be tweeted was due to the wrong conception about the massacre of Joseon peoples during the Great Kanto Earthquake and the hatred and discrimination toward Koreans.

 

This is not simply a matter of the person who tweeted.

 

Kotoe Hashimoto, a member of Japan’s right-wing organization the ‘Nippon Kaigi(Japan Conference)’, and a former candidate for the ‘Party of Hope’ in the 2017 House of Representatives elections, she said, through her Twitter account, “There are people who are bringing in conspiracy that Joseon people were slaughtered after the Kanto earthquake”, and insisted, “We must never forget the immigrants who raped Japanese women after the Great Earthquake.”

 

Professor Mark Ramseyer of Harvard Law School, known as a pro-Japanese scholar, followed the claim of the Japanese right wing and wrote a thesis claiming that Joseon people lost their lives because Joseon people committed arson and other crimes during the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. And after that, he has been asked to revise the facts for distorting the truth.

 

Yuriko Koike, Governor of Tokyo, Japan, has not sent a memorial message for four consecutive years since 2017 to the memorial service to commemorate the souls of the Joseon people slaughtered during the Great Kanto Earthquake.

 

In this way, the Japanese right-wing are systematically reducing and concealing the massacre of the Joseon people in the Great Kanto Earthquake, and to distort the memory with remarks such as ‘the Joseon people deserved the massacre’, ‘the Japanese vigilante was for a defensive purpose against Joseon peoples’ misconduct.’

 

The reason this kind of distortion being possible is because there was no proper fact-checking about the Great Kanto Earthquake massacre.

 

Since the distortion of memories of the Great Kanto Earthquake can lead to racial discrimination and hatred of Koreans(and Joseon People) in Japan, it is necessary to investigate the truth of the Great Kanto Earthquake by the international community.

 

 

First, we call on the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to go thorough fact-finding procedure on the Great Kanto Earthquake.

 

Second, we call on the Governor of Tokyo to resume sending memorial messages for the Joseon people massacres of the Great Kanto Earthquake.

 

Third, we call on the Japanese government to punish hate speech groundless rumored hate speech related to the massacre of Joseon people in the Great Kanto Earthquake.

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https://chng.it/49GfgfDb9g

Professor John Mark Ramseyer,

Are you a Harvard Law School professor of the 21st century?

Or a professor of Japanese Imperial university hundred years ago?

 

Professor Ramseyer’s paper, which distorts Japanese war crimes, rationalizes the invasion of neighboring countries as the remarks by Goebbels, the propaganda minister during the Nazi era, and is being used as a megaphone by the Japanese government to take no responsibility for the war of aggression.

 

The title of Professor John Mark Ramseyer’s paper, “Contracting for sex in the Pacific War” is going to be published on March, 2021, on International Review of Law and Economics vol. 65.

 

According to the professor’s thesis, it claims that the women who became “comfort women” for the Japanese military at the time are just said to have entered into a “contract” for mutual benefit.

 

In particular, he introduced a logic based on “Game Theory” in Economics, arguing that the contract was made because the purposes of the women who made money coincided with the interests of the recruiter and the Japanese military

 

However, “Game Theory” should not be used to analyze sexual slavery crimes during the war. Game Theory is a tool that analyzes parties’ free and reasonable decisions or valid contracts.

 

Although the Japanese military “comfort women” system is a system of sexual slavery that is enforced coercively and is not permitted under customary international law and cannot be considered a valid contract, applying game theory to this system is an insult to the victims and advocacy for war crimes.

 

A valid contract must be consistent with the intention and indication of ‘expression of will(in legal terms)’, and there must be no defects and the content must be legal and have social validity.

 

The girls’ sexual slavery contracts are also invalid in the first place because the contracts resulted from flawed expression of will by deception or compulsion.

 

Who could agree to be deprived of self-determination voluntarily without deception or compulsion? And who would agree to the contract knowing that freedom of movement will be restricted and chained to the battlefield?

 

Through the Kono Statement in 1993, the Japanese government has admitted to itself that the recruitment of comfort women was mainly handled by service providers who were requested by the military, but in those cases, many women were also recruited against their will due to sweet-talks or coercion.

 

The content of the sexual slavery contract itself is illegal because it violates customary international law which prohibits slavery, and is invalid because it has lost its social validity.

 

According to an investigation by the Japanese government, the comfort women were deprived of personal freedom, forced to move between bases with the military, denied the right of sexual self-determination, and forced to follow the horrible rules. It was also revealed that the sexual and reproductive health of comfort women were treated like possessions to protect soldiers from sexually transmitted diseases.

 

The treatment of the “comfort women” falls within the ordinary usage of “slavery” and the “slave trade”. The women were “deprived of their freedom” and “recruited against their own will”. Moreover, some women were purchased and therefore easily fit the classic mould of slavery.

– “Systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during armed conflict” : Final report by Ms. Gay J. McDougall, United Nations Special Rapporteur, United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, 1998

 

 

Ignoring the facts that are clearly revealed to the international community likewise, the comfort women system being analyzed in the framework of the game theory on the premise that girls who were victims of war crimes voluntarily signed a contract to benefit themselves is an advocacy for war crimes of sexual slavery, and an overt insult to the victims.

 

Who would dare to say that under the slave trade, slaves voluntarily entered into valid slave contracts in their interests with the slave trader?

 

We criticize the anti-human study that stems from Professor Ramseyer’s ignorance or intentional acquiescence.

 

We call on Professor Ramseyer, who has been a puppet of Japanese government, to reflect on and withdraw himself of his study that denies Japanese history of aggression and doing harm.

 

We request the International Review of Law and Economics to withdraw the publication of Professor Ramseyer’s thesis.

 

We call on the Dean of Harvard Law School and the President of Harvard University to take disciplinary action on Professor Ramseyer who defames Harvard Law School by violating ethics and conscience as a scholar.

https://chng.it/W5kcQBJGcM

Have you heard of ‘hate speech’ which is referred to as derogatory statement or abhorrent comment?

Hate speech is not only an individual’s remarks that dislike or insult a particular person, but also an act of contempt and insult or incite discrimination and violence against an individual or group just because they have the characteristics of minorities in their society.

DHC, which has grown into a conglomerate in Japan, has been publicly carrying on hatred and hate speech about Korea(n)s and Korean residents in Japan with no basis and with open hostility.

Typically, on February 2016, the CEO of DHC, Mr. Yoshida wrote in the company introduction section of DHC’s website, despising Korean residents in Japan as “Pseudo-like Japanese” and saying “Please go back to your home country”. Also on November 2020, he stated “For whatsoever reason, almost all the actors appointed in Suntory commercials are (South/North)Korean-Japanese. That is why Suntory seems to be booed on the Internet as Jon-tory. Including all the actors in DHC, DHC is a pure Japanese company.” Jon-tory can be seen as a compounded expression of Suntory with the Japanese ‘Jon(チョン)’, which depreciates Korean residents in Japan.

DHC’s constant hate speech is not just the CEO’s remarks. DHC TV’s cast members have been perpetually making hate speeches about Korea, and a far-right celebrity who appeared on DHC TV in August 2019 has not hesitated to remark distorted history by saying “Joseon people(Koreans) were unable to convert Chinese characters into text, so they distributed Hangeul(Korean alphabet) with textbooks made in Japan. The Japanese unified Hangeul and it became the current Hangeul.”

In particular, the statements made by DHC TV and its cast members are in violation of Japan’s Broadcasting Act. According to Article 4 of the Broadcasting Act, a broadcaster must comply with the following when editing domestic broadcast programs or domestic and international broadcast programs.

Article 4 of Japan’s Broadcasting Act

(1) it must not negatively influence public safety or good morals;
(2) it must be politically fair;
(3) reporting must not distort the facts; and
(4) it must clarify the points at issue from as many angles as possible when there are conflicting opinions concerning an issue.
DHC TV’s hate speech and statements that loathe Korea is negatively influencing good morals, politically unfair, distorting the facts when reporting, and is looking at issues related to Korea from a single angle.In June 2016, the Japanese government(Diet) already legislated so-called Hate Speech Act(Law concerning Promotion of Efforts to Eliminate Unfair Discriminatory Words and Behaviors Against Foreigners born outside Japan). In 2017, the Japanese government created and distributed a casebook containing words and actions that correspond to hate speech. According to the book, ‘discriminatory language and actions’ refers to ‘notifying or remarkably insulting with the intention of inflicting harm to life, body, etc. for the purpose of promoting discriminatory consciousness’ targeting ‘non-Japanese descents and descendants living in Japan legally’. The book also stipulates that ‘we declare that we do not tolerate such discriminatory language and actions.’Even though the Hate Speech Act does not ban hate speech and sets no penalty for committing it, each local government has been setting a separate ordinance based on this Act that prohibits hate speech and has penalties for violations. In the case of Tokyo Metropolitan government, from April 1, 2019, prior to the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with the aim of realizing the ideology of respect for human rights advocated by the Olympic Charter, the Ordinance on Respect for Human Rights has been implemented to curb discriminatory hate speech. DHC, which is located in Tokyo, is also required to comply with this ordinance, and if DHC does not, as seen in the examples above, the Tokyo Metropolitan government will also have to take appropriate action in accordance with the ordinance’s penalty regulations.If hatred and hate speech toward Korea, (South/North)Koreans, and Korean residents in Japan by Japanese conglomerate DHC, with annual sales exceeding 1 trillion won(approx. 1 billion USD) persist, it will not only damage Korean residents in Japan, but also degrade Japan’s national status and exercise bad influence on its relationship with its neighbor, Korea. In addition, in the face of the Olympics, the worldwide festival, if DHC continues to make such moves, it will not be able to avoid being in a state of openly showing the world the direct opposite of Tokyo’s awareness of respect for human rights.DHC’s hate speech must be stopped immediately. The Japanese government must take strong steps to stop the blatant and discriminatory hate speech of its conglomerate.Therefore, we request the following:
First, the central government of Japan and Tokyo Metropolitan government strongly recommend that DHC and DHC-affiliated companies quit hate speech, and take appropriate measures for their hate speech.
Second, DHC must stop hatred and hate speech toward Korea, Koreans, and Korean residents in Japan.
Third, DHC should sincerely apologize to Koreans and Korean residents in Japan who may have been hurt by hate speech.

https://chng.it/cFkFDxzjHw

Japanese suicide commando ‘Kamikaze’ who made suicide attacks while driving a bomb-equipped plane during the World WarⅡ

In Chinese character, Kamikaze’s Kami means god, and Kaze means wind. Japan insists that Kamikaze means ‘god’s wind’

However, Kamikaze is a symbol of Japanese militarism and imperialism, whose historical meaning came from the Japanese military commandos that carried out suicide attacks by flying bomb-equipped planes during the World WarⅡ

After Japan got great damage from the United States aircraft carriers during the War, to counter this, Japan organized suicide commando called Kamikaze, whose small plane becomes a bomb itself.

The young Japanese soldiers on the plane at the time were proud of being part of Kamikaze even though they knew that they were going to commit suicide bombing and die.

As if they were hypnotized in groups, they believed, “As the Japanese Empire regards the Emperor as God, it is a glorious thing to participate and die in the sacred war of Japan.”

However, the war they believed to be sacred and made them to give up their lives, was a terrible disaster in human history and caused untreatable pain and wounds to countless people.

Kamikaze, which disappeared in world history with the defeat of Japan, however, is being revived through worldwide online shopping sites in the 21st century, polluting the spirits of young people around the world.

Amazon, eBay, Walmart, which are known to be used the most by young people around the world, sell and distribute “kamikaze” related items.

This should be stopped.

If the global community leaves this alone, it is giving indulgence on war of aggression.

Above all, the United States, which suffered the most damage from Japanese Kamikaze during the World WarⅡ, should not let the US-based Amazon, eBay, and Walmart sell and distribute items commemorating Kamikaze.

On July 25, 2020, worldwide e-commerce companies Amazon, Google and Wish announced that they removed racist items being sold on their platforms.

In accordance with the revised policies, these companies banned the sales of Hakenkreuz, White-supremacist flags, neo-Nazi and KKK related items, and also changed their sales algorithm to prohibit the sales of racist items.

If famous online shopping malls ban the sale of Nazi Hakenkreuz, Kamikaze must also be banned.

Just as the Nazi Hakenkreuz represents fascism, which is extreme totalitarianism, Kamikaze is also a symbol of extreme fascism of Japanese imperialism to countries affected by imperialist Japan.

The global community has a shared responsibility and obligation to prevent Kamikaze from reappearing before humanity in the 21st century, a symbol of war crimes that caused terrible pain and wounds to humanity during the World WarⅡ. and to evict Kamikaze from the stage of history again.

Accordingly, VANK requests Amazon, eBay, and Walmart, which operate global e-commerce platforms, take full ban on the sale and distribution of Kamikaze-related items as follows:

First, Amazon, eBay, Walmart should ban the sales of Kamikaze related items.

Second, Amazon, eBay, Walmart should modify their algorithm to ban product recommendations related to Kamikaze.

Third, Amazon, eBay, Walmart should inform their distributors and merchandisers registered with the companies about the facts of Kamikaze and disallow the sale of Kamikaze related items.

<relevant petitions>
– Amazon, Google and Wish should prohibit the sales of the Rising Sun Flag products!
http://maywespeak.com/flag
– Ban the use of the Rising Sun Flag in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
http://maywespeak.com/2020

https://chng.it/SPpWGDK59H

Former United States senator Hiram Johnson said “The first casualty when war comes is truth”. There is a country that publicly distorts the historical facts of a war that broke out 70 years ago.

That is China.

BTS was awarded the ‘Van Fleet Award’ on October 7th and in the award acceptance speech, the leader RM stated as follows: “As this year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korean War. We will always remember the history of pain that our two nations share together and the sacrifices of countless men and women.”

Regarding this, the Global Times(环球时报), a Chinese state-run media, extensively reported that the Chinese netizens raised anger, saying “Why didn’t you mention China’s sacrifice in your speech?”

When talking about the sacrifices of the US troops who fought as United Nations Forces to help Republic of Korea(ROK) in the Korean War, it is irrelevant to anyone to discuss the sacrifices of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army(PVA), which had to be dealt with as the enemy in the War.

Even the Chinese netizens said: “BTS has insulted the dignity of China! BTS does not know the meaning of 抗美援朝戰爭(Kangmei Yuanchao Zhanzheng; Helping Democratic People’s Republic of Korea(DPRK) while fighting against the United States; the term that China uses when referring to the Korean War)”.

It is not only Chinese netizens who have expressed distorted opinions that are completely far away from the facts.

On October 23rd, while China held a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of its ‘participation in the War, 抗美援朝戰爭’, the Chinese president Xi Jinping said in the speech that “On June 25, 1950, the Korean civil war broke out, and the US decided to intervene by force in the civil war based on the concept of the Cold War, The great 抗美援朝戰爭 aimed to resist imperial invasion (of the US), defend China’s security, and stabilize the situation on the Korean Peninsula.”

This speech also distorted the facts.

On October 25th, on the official Weibo account of the Communist Youth League of China(中国共青团) said in the form of a question-and-answer as the following: ‘In the Joseon(Korean) War, did Joseon(North Korea) invade Korea(South Korea)?’ – ‘No, It is a country’s civil war.’

On the same day, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated at the regular briefing that the Joseon(Korean) War originally occurred between the two Koreas on the Korean peninsula, and it belongs to a civil war. The Joseon(Korean) War started as a civil war, but the US intervention changed the nature of the war.

In the same manner, the Communist Youth League of China’s opinion and the spokesperson’s briefing also distorted the historical facts.

The war that broke out on the Korean peninsula 70 years ago from today on June 25, 1950 was a war that began when the Korean People’s Army invaded the South and was not a civil war but an international all-out war.

The Korean War, which China calls the ‘抗美援朝戰爭‘, is a war prepared and started according to a war plan based on the solidarity of Communist ideas between Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Kim Il-sung.

The origin of the Korean War is also clearly revealed due to the declassification of the former Soviet Union’s confidential papers by Russia.

The Chinese President Xi Jinping’s remarks can also be seen as defining all of the countries that supported Republic of Korea at the time as ‘countries that went along with the imperialist invasion (of the US)’.

Immediately after the outbreak of the war, the UN Security Council declared the communists’ actions as ‘violation of peace’, and decided to dispatch forces to Republic of Korea in accordance with the Security Council Resolution 83(S/1511). As it was decided by the UN Security Council to send forces to Republic of Korea, the participation in the war proceeded in a internationally legitimate manner.

In addition, Republic of Korea received support from 67 countries during the Korean war. Among the 67 countries, 16 sent UN Forces, 5 gave medical support, 40 provided supplies, and 6 supported post-war reconstruction. This is a recorded fact that anyone can know as Republic of Korea is listed in the Guinness World Records as an ally that received the most support from countries during a war.

Also, more than 500,000 people were recorded as war death/death, wounded, disappeared, POW among the United Nations Forces that fought in the war. The Chinese government, which defined the noble spirit and sacrifice of the Forces only as ‘imperialist aggression’, defamed the honor of all the UN Forces in the war.

In fact, China’s distortion of the Korean War began 70 years ago, right after the outbreak of the war. On June 27, 1950, two days after the outbreak of the war, the People’s Daily(人民日报), the Chinese Communist Party’s paper, spread a rumor that “The entire civil war in Joseon(Korea) has already begun[before June 25, 1950].”

Both the government and the private sector of China continues to distort historical facts. If we do not stop China’s history distortion on the Korean War now, their flagrant distortion of modern history will continue in the future.

Today, 70 years after the outbreak of the war, in order to preserve the noble spirit of those who sacrificed to protect us, and to prevent a movement to distort and interpret modern history in a direction that is favorable to China, all of us who tries to preserve the truth must come forward.

China is covering up the 67 countries who helped Republic of Korea during the Korean War as ‘Imperialist invasion’ and is trying to distort and conceal the truth about all victims of the Korean War. Please raise your voices of concern on China’s history distortion!

We request the following:

First, the Chinese government should stop distorting the facts about the Korean War.

Second, the United Nations should express concern to the Chinese government for distorting facts about the Korean War.

 

* List of 67 countries that supported Republic of Korea during the Korean War

(in alphabetical order)

 

United Nations Troops Support (16)

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

 

Medical Support (5)

Denmark, India, Italy, Norway, Sweden

 

Material Support (40)

Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Lebanon, Liberia, Mexico, Monaco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam

 

post-war Reconstruction Support (6)

Iraq, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Spain, The Vatican

<relevant Global Petitions>

* Stop Chinese government from distorting history of Goguryeo!
https://chng.it/xPsVh8Q4Kr

* Is the Great Wall of China a wall made of rubber band?
https://chng.it/cmDSgNsVJr

* Stop China’s cyber chauvinism which lynched a Korean celebrity!
https://chng.it/VJBLnJmtFG

 

* UNESCO, Save the mother tongues of ethnic minorities in China!

https://chng.it/nr9RLJ4F5s

 

* We call on the Papergames Inc., a Chinese game company, to take on Multinational Corporate Social Responsibility!

https://www.change.org/korean_hanbok

https://chng.it/xVVgPhcbPj

Have you heard of the “Statue of Peace” in the city of Berlin?

The Statue of Peace was established in September 2020 at the intersection of Birkenstraße and Bremer straße in Berlin’s Borough of Mitte, led by the Korea Verband, a Korean-related civil organization. This is the third time that the Statue of Peace was installed in Germany, and it is the first time to be installed in a public place.

The Statue of Peace is not a diplomatic issue between Korea and Japan. It is of great significance because it criticizes the abuse of power as well as wartime sexual violence against women worldwide, and it contains values such as peace and gender equality. However, there is the only country in the world that strongly opposes this image of the Statue of Peace. It is Japan.

After the installment of the Statue of Peace in Berlin, the Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu said “I feel extremely disappointing of the installment of the Statue of Peace on the streets of Berlin”.

He also said “We know that the unveiling ceremony was held in downtown Berlin, and we will make an effort to remove it.” The Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Motegi Toshimitsu called for the removal of the statue in a phone call with the German counterpart Heiko Maas.

Due to the Japanese government’s relentless pressure on the German government, the Borough of Mitte suddenly revoked the permit to install the Statue of Peace on October 7th and ordered its removal by October 14th.

We are enraged with the German government and Borough of Mitte’s decision to allow the removal of the Statue of Peace under the Japanese government’s pressure.

The statue is not a diplomatic issue between Korea and Japan, which the Japanese government has claimed as a cause for the removal.

The Statue of Peace symbolizes the universal human rights issue, and it is the aspiration and desire of all people around the world to hope that the issue of sexual violence against women in war will not be reproduced on this land again in the 21st century.

Above all, Germany had set an example for the international community with sincere reflection on Nazi war crimes.

The German President, Chancellor, Foreign Minister have set an example for the international community with sincere reflection on Nazi war crimes. Through this, even though Germany was a perpetrator of war, but through solving and settling the history of the Nazis, Germany is highly being respected and admired by many young people around the world, including Koreans.

However, the German government’s attempt to remove the Statue of Peace is a betrayal of the faith and trust of people all around the world. Above all, VANK believes that German government’s acceptance of the removal of the Statue of Peace through the Japanese government’s lobby is to deny the responsibility and reflection on the history of aggression that Germany has shown to the international community.

Therefore, we want to prevent the 21st century German government, which should take the lead in settling and clearing Japanese war crimes, from being used as an exoneration to justify aggression and hide war crimes by Japan.

Please raise your voice against the policy of accepting the removal of the Statue of Peace by the Borough of Mitte and the German government!

Please make complaint to the German government to join internationally publicizing the war crimes of Japanese imperialism, the same as those of Nazis!

https://chng.it/nr9RLJ4F5s

The Chinese government has emphasized the centralized education of ethnic minorities in China, such as ethnic Koreans and Mongolians living in China to be assimilated into Chinese culture.

Because of this, ethnic minorities are deprived of the right to learn the traditions and cultures contained in their mother tongue and to be connected with their roots.

Beginning this September, ethnic Korean primary and secondary school teachers are required to teach Language and Politics from 2021 and to teach History from 2022 in pure Chinese.

The same policy applies to the Mongolians too.
In response, thousands of Mongolian parents and students protested saying “Our native tongue is Mongolian” and campaigned school strikes.

Over 130 Mongolians have been arrested in connection with the protests.

A Tibetan activist who campaigned for Tibetan language education has been sentenced to five years in prison in China for “inciting separatism.”

The Chinese government’s policy on ethnic minorities goes against UNESCO’s purpose of preserving cultural diversity.

UNESCO’s purpose of contributing to peace and security is best guaranteed when respecting cultural diversity.
– UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity

“In fact, as UNESCO studies have shown, studying in a language which is not one’s own interferes with learning and increases inequalities.”

– Message from Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on International Mother Language Day 2020.

However, UNESCO is silent about China’s policy on ethnic minorities.

VANK believes that UNESCO is condoning verbal annihilation of ethnic minorities in China which is against the purpose of the organization’s existence, paying attention to the Chinese government, which pays the most contributions.

Accordingly, through this Global Petition, VANK call for UNESCO to share its views on the Chinese government’s recent policy on ethnic minorities!

Also, we call on UNESCO to state its position as to whether it is a national organization serving the interests of China or an international organization serving education and human rights.

VANK aims to protect the lingual heritage of mankind and create a world in which cultural diversity is respected, by properly informing the international community of the problems of the Chinese government’s minority policy through this Global Petition.

https://chng.it/4bHbqswkKx

In September 2020, a Spanish daily sports newspaper ‘Diario AS’ depicted eight rising stars of the Spanish Primera Liga in 3D caricature. The eyes of a Korean player Kang-in Lee and a Japanese player Takefusa Kubo were stretched. On the other hand, Joao Felix of Portugal and Ansu Fati of Spain, and other four were epxressed with round eyes. The gesture of tearing the eyes to the sides is a demeaning expression for Asians with relatively small eyes.

In addition, in the Amazon Prime documentary, there was a controversy over racial discrimination by treating Son Heung-min’s remarks as ‘Shouting’ when he had an argument with a fellow player. Accordingly, criticism continued among domestic and foreign soccer fans as an obvious racism reflecting the prejudice that ‘Asians do not speak English well.’ Eventually, the Amazon Prime Video rectified the subtitles after soccer fans’ complaints.

However, unlike the original documentary, the preview which was released on YouTube on September 11, has not deleted or modified the subtitle. The trailer has hit 2.4 million views as of 14th, and many fans are still pointing out Amazon’s racist behavior in comments and social media. Amazon Prime Video has not announced an official position or apology for this.

Accordingly, VANK is in progress with a Global Petition asking Diario AS and Amazon Prime Video to correct actions of racial discrimination toward Koreans. It is a big problem that Asian racial discrimination still exists in 2020 through leading foreign media. Rather than dismissing this as a simple mistake, it is necessary to proactively raise issues and publicize international controversy to prevent racial discrimination in media with a great impact and information dissemination power. If the international society neglects this situation, ignorance could justify and spread hatred and violence around the world.

Especially when handling sports, the media have the obligation to be aware of the values that sports intend to embody and to exert a positive impact, in compliance with the Article 10 of the International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport. The media have the duty to be well informed of and realize the solidarity, mutual respect and understanding, and respect for people in sports.

We demand the media dealing with sports treat Asian athletes not as ‘different races’, but as equal beings of humanity. VANK demand the Amazon Prime Video and Diario AS to issue a correction and publish a formal apology for racism. VANK also request Amazon Prime Video and Diario AS to establish measures to prevent recurrence of racial discrimination and to develop an internal code of ethics related to the topic.

If we keep silent, hatred and violence that originated from ignorance and exclusion will expand further.

If we take action, we can disconnect ignorance and exclusion from turning int o hatred.

https://chng.it/Lrs6fzPDKB

The Japanese government is planning to enforce an ocen discharge method to treat radioactive contaminated water of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

In an interview with the Japanese media on September 9, 2020, the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Kajiyama HIroshi said, “The there is a limit of the space due to the large number of water tanks that store contaminated water, and the government will take responsibility and make a decision”.

His remarks are interpreted as the meaning that Japan will enforce the ocean discharge method proposed by the government as a way to treat contaminated water despite domestic and international concerns.s

This is de facto policy of the Japanese government to dump the contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean despite fierce opposition inside Japan and around the world.

Above all, the Japanese government has siad that it will seek understanding from its neighbors such as Korea, but has not taken any action.

The Fukushima nuclear power plant had stopped operating after the explosion since the 2011 Tohoku earthquake.

However, the cooling water is still being injected into the reactor to cool the melted nuclear fuel.

In addition, external ground water flows into the nuclear power plant, generating more than 170 tons of radioactive contaminated water on average per day.

Tokyo Electric Power Holdings(TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, is storing contaminated water in the water tanks at the site of the nuclear power plant, but the water tanks are also expected to reach limit by August 2022.

The Japanese government is preparing for ocean discharge to treat radioactive water contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear power plant explosion.

Because it is the cheapest solution. However, even in a report released by Tokyo Electric Power Holdings(TEPCO), 72 percent of contaminated water exceeds the radiation threshold, and tritium among radioactive materials has not been purified at all.

It does not mean that there are not any ways that do not affect the environment.

The Japanese government is ignoring the possibility of building additional contaminated water storage tanks because of its high cost.

Japan is no longer trying to develop technology to purify contaminated water.

We are living on our only planet Earth. We need to be more cautious on irreversible decisions affecting the one and only Earth and the oceans without borders.

It is important to fully discuss the effects with neighboring countries that would be affected by the decision.

However, the Japanese government does not even listen to the opposition of its local communities, let alone the neighboring countries.

World citizens could not prevent the nuclear power plant accident, but we can n now avoid Japan’s deliberate discharge of radioactive water.

Therefore, VANK is in progress with the Global Petition to stop Japan’s deliberate discharge of Radioactive water!

In the petition, VANK demand the Japanese government to make every effort to deal with pollution sources within its own country and to transparently disclose information on the treatment of radioactive water and discuss its decision with neighboring countries. Also, VANK ask the IAEA to recommend Japan to come up with measures to treat contaminated radioactive water that the international community would deem safe.

https://chng.it/62XKhfgk7v

More than 200,000 Chinese have committed indiscriminate cyber violence to the words of a celebrity in Korean entertainment show. What she had mentioned was “What about Mao as a stage name?”

The reason was that it was a challenge to China, saying that she despised Mao Zedong, their national hero.

‘Mao’ is one of the top 100 surnames commonly used by Chinese, and is also a common name in Japan.

It is an over-interpretation that her words depreciated Mao Zedong.

Even if this is not the case, it is obviously crossing over the line that Chinese people who claim to be “Xiao Fenhong” terrorizing social media accounts of other countries’ celebrities that did not have such intentions in their speech.

However, the above entertainment video clip has been deleted due to fierce criticism form Chinese who claim to be “小粉紅(Xiao Fenhong).”

“Xiao Fenhong” is a generation born after the 1990s, who received a lifelong “中华民族主義(Zhonghua(Chinese) nationalism)” education from the Chinese Communist Party, and is showing off the power of China online, as China has risen to the ranks of the so called G2.

Zhonghua nationalism is based on the idea that China is the center of the world and that the Zhonghua Minzu(中华民族, Chinese nationals) are superior to other nationals.

Based on Zhonghua nationalism, as a challenge to their nation, they are attacking indiscriminately and interpreting the expressions of others aggressively.

We oppose the chauvinistic attitude of attacking others in the name of nationalism, which is interpreting even the smallest parts of the expression in the most vicious or offensive way.

We oppose the hegemonic attitude of nationalism which have been showing off their power, coercively treating neighboring countries and people, and imposing lynch.

We are concerned about the situation where this attitude is tolerated and viewed as a virtue by the state and the government.

If we remain silent, this incident will not only be an anecdote but will be repeated in the future.

And “Xiao Fenhong”’s next target could be you.

Accordingly, VANK is trying to tell the international community about this problem in the world’s largest petition site.

https://chng.it/jV2VrsGF2t

We propose an amendment of the Olympic Charter Rule 50(2)!

What is the International Olympic Committee(IOC) for?

The Olympics, a place of harmony to confirm peace and solidarity of the people around the world, have been degenerated into a product by the IOC.

The IOC is arbitrarily interpreting and executing the Olympic Charter to suit the tastes of the sponsors of the Games in order to better sell the “product” named Olympics.

It is not an exaggeration. It can be verified by the attitude of the IOC interpreting the Rule 50(2) of the Olympic Charter.

Based on the regulation, the IOC is arbitrarily limiting freedom of expression.

The IOC does not care about the Olympic Spirit, silences any expressions that might be uncomfortable for sponsors, and allows for expressions that only sponsors would like.

To be more specific, the IOC banned the use of a badge on the chest in the sense of opposing racial discrimination based on this regulation.

Also, at the 2016 Rio Olympics, spectators wearing t-shirts printed with messages criticizing the government were kicked out of the Olympic stadium.

However, protests against racial discrimination or peaceful anti-government protests are acts of expression of peace, solidarity and mutual respect, and are consistent with the Olympic Spirit, so there is no reason for these acts to be banned.

In the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Dokdo, an indigenous island that belongs to the Republic of Korea, was banned from being marked on the Korean Unification flag as a political act contrary to the Olympic Spirit.

On the other hand, the IOC has shown a contradictory attitude, allowing Dokdo to appear as Japanese territory on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay map not being regarded as a political act.

What is worse, the IOC arbitrarily allows racist and xenophobic expressions against the Olympic Spirit.

The IOC has announced that it is allowed to bring the Rising Sun Flag into the 2020 Tokyo Olympic stadiums.

In order to prevent arbitrary interpretation of the IOC against the Olympic Spirit, VANK calls for more specific and restrictive provisions of the regulations.

https://chng.it/jV2VrsGF2t

On July 25, 2020, global telecommunications companies Amazon, Google and Wish announced that they would ban the sale of racist products. These companies have banned the sales of White-supremacist flags, neo-Nazi books and Ku Klux Klan merchandise, and also have changed their sales algorithms to prohibit the sale of racist products.

Amazon, Google and Wish have announced that it will no longer be able to purchase or sell the above items on each platform, and that they will ban items that violate the policy and strengthen relevant policies to take appropriate action in the event of a violation.

Accordingly, these companiese have imposed a ban on the sale of the German Nazi flag, Hakenkreuz. However, these companies have not stopped selling the Rising Sun Flag, the flag of Japanese war crime.

As the Hakenkreuz represents extreme totalitarian fascism for Europeans, the Rising Sun Flag is also a symbol of extreme fascism for Asians.

Amazon, Google and Wish should recognize that the Rising Sun Flag, which has engraved a painful history for Asians, was used with criminal acts, and is as condemnable as the Hakenkreuz of the Nazis.

VANK is launching a Global Petition demanding that Amazon, Google and Wish, which operate global e-commerce platforms, to take a total ban on the sale and sitribution of Rising Sun Flag related products.

https://chng.it/gjgYShY9fk

Have you heard of the Unit 731, the Asian version of Auschwitz?

The Japanese Unit 731 was launched in August 1936 under the name of “Kanto Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department Headquarters” as a secret unit of the Japanese Army. The Unit 731 is a biological warfare unit that killed at least 10,000 casualties by spraying plague virus midair or releasing the cholera bacteria into the wells. They conducted inhumane biological experiments to make these biological weapons. It is estimated that at least 3,000 Korean, Chinese, Russian victims were sacrificed in this place.

This is an anti-human rights crime, a serious human rights violation committed in the name of the State during the war. However, after Japan’s defeat, Japan has abandoned its obligation to remember the crimes against human rights.

To be more precise, Japan chose to thoroughly cover up the traces of crime. Instead, Japan handed over the biomedical research results to the United States government, and was promised to overlook the brutality of Unit 731, and not a single member of the Unit 731 was stood at the court for war-crimes trial.

Even though testimonies and photos of victims and participants have been released, the Japanese government still denies the existence of human experiments, and they claim that they have no obligation to disclose related information.

The Japanese government committed anti-humanitarian crimes against international human rights law, and has the duty to disclose relevant information and preserve archives under the provision of 「Set of Principles for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights through Action to Combat Impunity」

Accordingly, VANK request the Japanese government to disclose related information regarding the Unit 731, and to meet their duties to preserve. VANK also demand the United States government to reflect on the concealed actions that aided and abetted the anti-human rights crimes, and to urge Japan to disclose information.

Through this, VANK will inform the international community so that cirmes against human righst such as Japanese Unit 731 will not occur again.

https://chng.it/bjGHMgDpjG

What if the German chancellor makes a vow ‘not to start a war’ in front of Adolf Hitler’s grave?

We can see this happening in the 21st century Asia. Three times a year, the Japanese prime minister and politicians are visiting the Yasukuni Shrine and making offerings. They say “it is a pledge focused on ‘not to start a war”.” But we cannot believe what they say. The Second World War criminals corresponding to Adolf hitler lies buried at the Yasukuni Shrine. 14 A-class and a thousand B and C-class war criminals who started the Pacific War, the Nanjing Massacre and the Second Sino-Japanese War are apotheosized at the Yasukuni Shrine and they are deified as ‘Gods.’

Nobody would accept worshiping at a shrine to glamorize war and to commemorate war criminals, as a vow not to start a war. Rather, it makes more sense to interpret these acts as an oath to justify the wars of the past and to dream the revival of imperialism.

We demand the Japanese politicians to immediately stop worshiping at the Yasukuni Shrine. Also, we request Japanese politicians not to head towards the Yasukuni Shrine, but to visit and commemorate those victims of the Japanese imperialism, such as Koreans, chinese, and Filipinos.

https://chng.it/9qbPcBbHmg

The tragedy of Auschwitz had begun with hatred and the Nazi’s war crimes begun with racial discrimination. The efforts by people around the world to avoid repetition of unfortunate history by remembering Nazi crimes are now in danger of being lost.

In Berlin, Germany, April 26th 2020, Five German youths on the subway mocked Korean couple who were wearing masks as “Corona”, “Happy Corona Day”, and sexually harassed the couple and spat on them. Upon receiving the report, the Berlin Police officers plausibly admonished the perpetrators and let them go, then rather told the victims “This much is not racist. You have to endure it because you are colored people.”The Berlin Police officers are ‘spreading’ racism in the form of ‘conniving,’ As the fear and danger of the COVID-19 is being prolonged, the hate crime towards Asians are increasing.

But the Berlin Police that should judge these racist crimes are reacting passively, and because of this, racial discrimination such as foul language and assaults towards Asians cases are not decreasing. VANK believes that if Germany, the most influential country in Europe neglect the racist crimes towards Koreans, all Koreans lives in Europe could be jeopardized. Accordingly, VANK launches a global petition campaign asking for a thorough investigation and an official apology of the racial discrimination crimes against Koreans.

https://chng.it/LLS8HyBTBG

As the corona virus, the new epidemic that originated from China in 2020, spreads throughout the world, racisim and aversion against Asians are spreading. Above all, the media who were supposed to stop racism and hate crime of the public opinion, are actually aggravating the situation. Even though all the epidemic did not begin in Asia, some media in the western world describe Asia as if the virus were of origin and Asians were virus carriers

On February 1st, 2020, the well known German weekly ‘Der Spiegel’ described the new corona virus as ‘Made in China.’ Der Spiegel had put the title “Corona-Virus: Made in China” on the cover of the weekly paper, highlighting a phrase that may arouse hatred towards Chinese people. VANK is conducting a global petition campaign targeting organizations spreading the racial hate virus around the world, such as the German ‘Der Spiegel’, Danish daily ‘Jyllands-Posten, and French local press ‘Courrier picard.’ Stop the spread of discrimination and hatred to Asians due to the corona virus crisis! Those of you who participate in the petition are the vaccines against the ‘racial hatred virus.’

https://chng.it/WBCk57Yf8f

VANK is in progress with a Global Petition requesting the coorection of the part marked “Chinese New Year” on the official UN Social Media stie and stamps issued by the United Nations.

The Lunar New Year is a holiday celebrated by Asian people, and it is a problem that the United Nations restricts Asian countries’ festivals(holidays) to be Chinese holidays. Above all, it can give the recognition that the United Nations is blatantly supporting China’s cultural hegemony, which should control conflicts and disputes between countries around the world and understand and respect different cultures among UN member states. This is a conspicuous disregard for Asians such as Koreans, Vietnamese, and Filipinos. in which they have different cultures from China for the ‘Lunar New Year’ holidays. Above all, the United Nations describing the holiday only as ‘Chinese New Year’, not ‘Lunar New Year’ in English language is ignoring the cultural diversity and unique identities of Asian people, who have different ‘Lunar New Year’ cultures. It also violates the UN spirit of understanding and respecting the cultures and histories around the world. Because of the information provided by the United Nations, the ‘Lunar New Year’ holidays is imprinted as ‘Chinese New Year.’ This is fostering conflict by spreading incorrect awareness across the world by conspicuously disregarding Asians countries such as Korea, Vietnam, and the Philippines, which are member states of the United Nations with different cultures from China.

Even though each country has different cultures and traditions in their respective countries, international organization such as the United Nations defying different cultures and traditions only as Chinese culture is against the trend of respecting the unique culture and identity of countries in the globalization era of the 21st century. It is also an obstacle to world peace, where we respect each other.

https://chng.it/fGb2C4MTJZ

VANK is on progress with a Global Petition calling for the attention of the International Olympic Committee and the international community on the radiation issue of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The host country announced that the agricultural products produced in Fukushima are safe. and that it will provide meals with Fukushima-produced agricultural and marine products to athletes participating in the Tokyo Olympics. However, agricultural products from Fukushima are cultivated alongside radioactive soil that is neglected throughout Fukushima. In aquatic products such as catfish and brown trout from Fukushima, cesium is detected more than three times the standard value, and the WTO determined that the import restrictions on Fukushima seafood in 2019 were justified.

However. Japan also decided to run the games adjacent to the Fukushima nuclear power plant. They set a baseball and a softball field 70 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear water plant, and only 20 kilometers from the Fukushima nuclear power plant as the Olympic torch relay route. More than 30 years after the accident, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine is still an uninhabited area within a 30km radius. The Olympics is a sports festival for athletes around the world. The most basic premise of the Olympic Ideology of improving the mind and body through sports and contributing to the realization of a peaceful and better world is the health of athletes and participants. Accordingly, VANK demands the following for the health of athletes and spectators in accordance with the Olympic Spirit and the Article 2, Clause 10 of the Charter. First, the IOC must request that Japan bans the use of agricultural and marine products from Fukushima, in order to protect the health of athletes. Second, the IOC must request that Japan not use stadiums that are close to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclelar power plant. Third, the IOC should request that Japan be transparent in releasing all of its radiation safety test results. This petition is for the safety and health, survival and peace of us, Koreans and Japanese, Asians and global citizens, and even for our next generation!

https://chng.it/jV2VrsGF2t

Vank is on progress with a Global Petition calling for cooperation and participation from people around the world in banning the use of the Rising Sun Flag when cheering in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Despite the fact that the Rising Sun Flag is the flag of the Japanese military of the past, and a symbol of Japanese imperialistic war of aggression, the Japanese government recently announced that it would allow the Rising Sun Flag when cheering during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Just as Hakenkreuz represents fascism, which is extreme totalitarianism to Europeans, the rising sun flag is also a symbol of extreme fascism used in Japans’ realization of imperialism. Therefore, the Japanese government’s use of the Rising Sun Flag during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics means that it will reproduce the 1936 Berlin Olympics in Germany, which used the Olympics for political propaganda purposes. VANK believes that the International Olympic Committee should strongly warn the Japanese Olympic Committee for violating the Olympic Charter that no form of protest or political, religious or racial propaganda is allowed in the Olympics. However, the IOC is keeping silent and is supporting the use of the Rising Sun Flag in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Therefore, VANK believes that only gathering global public opinion to ban the use of the Rising Sun Flag, which is recognized as a symbol of Japanese militarism and imperialism, can move the IOC and prevent Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee from allowing the support for the Rising Sun Flag.