Historically, Mongolians lived a nomadic life, moving from place to place. Half of the Mongolian population still live in a traditional mobile home called the Ger, listed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Ger can be set up on the ground in a day and dismantled in an hour, enabling convenient seasonal moves to optimum locations.

The Korean equivalent to the Ger, though not portable, is Hanok. Hanok is a traditional Korean house that consists of the floor and an underfloor structure called Ondol for cooling and heating. Existing Hanok villages across Korea, including Yangdong village in Gyeongju, Hahoe village in Andong, and Donam Confucian Academy village in Nonsan, are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Nowadays, renovated Hanok houses are gaining popularity as cafes and restaurants.

The Morin Khuur is a traditional Mongolian string instrument, which is a standard fixture in a Mongolian folk orchestra. In Mongolian, morin means horse and khuur means fiddle. The Morin Khuur is also called horsehead fiddle because it was traditionally topped with a carved horse head.

The Korean equivalent to the Morin Khuur is the Haegeum. Similar to the Morin Khuur, the Haegeum is a two-stringed instrument, played vertically with a horsehair bow. It has been widely played in court music and folk music since the Goryeo dynasty.

Have you heard about Uzbekistan’s 1000-year-old Samarkand paper production and Hanji(Korean traditional paper)?
The Samarkand silk paper has gained global recognition and popularity for over 1000 years.

Made of mulberry tree bark, cotton, and silk, this famous paper spread across Europe, disseminating traditional Uzbek papermaking methods.

Likewise, Hanji, made with its own traditional methods, achieved global fame for centuries. Hanji was also known as hundred-paper because the user’s touch on the paper would be the 100th touch after the papermaking master’s laborious 99 touches.

Mugujeonggwang Daedaranigyeong, the world’s oldest extant woodblock print, and Jikji, the world’s oldest extant movable metal type print, have been impeccably preserved because they were printed on durable Hanji.

Uzbekistan’s national wrestling Kurash has over 3,500 years of tradition. With interest in territorial expansion and cultural prosperity, ruler Amir Timur trained his soldiers in Kurash to increase their physical and mental fitness.

The wrestler who takes his opponent down first wins, which is the same in Korean wrestling called Ssireum. In Kurash, two wrestlers wear green or blue uniforms called Yakhtak, white trousers, and a red belt.

Like Uzbeks being proud of Kurash, Koreans are proud of Taekwondo, Korea’s traditional martial art. Taekwondo, which developed over Korea’s five thousand years of history, has become a global sport. It emphasizes not only physical and mental training but also respect for each other.

Like Kurash being adopted by the Asian Games in 2018, Taekwondo was adopted by the Olympic Games as an official sport in 2000. Through Kurash and Taekwondo, people across the world unite as one across languages, races, history, and culture.

Do you know the Himalayas, also known as the roof of the world?

In Nepal, home to the Himalayas, over 80% of its population are Hindu, but they respect different spiritual beliefs. Some say that there are more gods than its people to describe its generous religious tolerance.

Swayambhunath Temple in its capital Kathmandu is a mecca for Buddhists and one of the oldest Buddhist temples in the world, built over 2,000 years ago. In Buddhism, monkeys are considered sacred because the Buddha is believed to have once been a monkey in his past lives. Due to the hundreds of monkeys at the temple, it is also called “the Monkey Temple.”

Have you heard of Bhaktapur, one of the three kingdoms along with Kathmandu and Patan during Nepal’s golden age of the Malla Dynasty (12th – 18th century)?

Bhaktapur is a part of the Kathmandu Valley, which was inscribed as a UNESCO cultural heritage in 1979 for its well-preserved Nepalese medieval architecture. The Kathmandu Valley consists of the royal palaces of the three kingdoms, the two Hindu temples of Pashupati and Changu Narayan, and the two Buddhist temples of Swayambhu and Bauddhanath.

The Baekje Historic Areas, inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2015, are Korea’s equivalent to Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. The areas consist of eight archaeological sites in today’s Gongju, Iksan, and Buyeo, which were the capital cities of Baekje (18 BC – AD 660).

Baekje, one of Korea’s three ancient kingdoms along with Goguryeo and Silla, made significant contributions to East Asia’s cultural development. The Baekje Historic Areas exemplify its unique culture and tradition.

With rich cultural heritage, both countries are dedicated to eradicating global illiteracy.

September 8th of each year is International Literacy Day, proclaimed by UNESCO. Korea created the UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize in 1989 to honor King Sejong’s goal of creating the Korean alphabet Hangeul and contribute to eradicating illiteracy in the world. The 2020 UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize was awarded to Ageing Nepal, a Nepalese NGO, for its ‘Basic Literacy Class for Older Persons.’

The fifth most populous country in the world (Total population: 207 million, as of 2017, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics)
About 97% of the population are Muslim.
It has beautiful natural landscapes with many mountains.
It has the highest highway in the world.

This country is Pakistan.

Despite their apparent differences, Pakistan and Korea share similar food and cultural heritage.

People in Pakistan and its neighboring countries, including India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Nepal, enjoy eating pickled vegetables called Achar. People make achar at home by soaking assorted vegetables and fruits, such as mangos, carrots, and chilies, in salt and spices.

Similar to achar, Korea’s national dish Kimchi is made by fermenting vegetables, such as cabbage and radish, in salt and spices. Kimchi was recognized as one of the world’s five healthiest foods by America’s Health Magazine, for its immune-boosting, cancer-fighting, and heart-health benefits. There are over 300 types of Kimchi, depending on its ingredients and preparation. Kimjang, Korea’s Kimchi-making tradition, was inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List in 2013.

Rohtas Fort in Pakistan is a fort built in 1541 by Emperor Sher Shah Suri, after defeating the Mughal emperor Humayun. It is an exceptional example of Muslim military architecture in Central and South Asia, preserved in its original form. Built on a strategic site on a high hill in northern Pakistan, the fort boasts expansive views. Rohtas Fort was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1997, as Pakistan’s sixth addition to the list.

Namhansanseong Fortress in the city of Gwangju in Gyeonggido province, Korea, was initially built and named Jujang Fortress in 672 during the reign of King Munmu of Unified Silla. It was rebuilt and named Gwangju Fortress during Goryeo, and then rebuilt again and named Namhansanseong Fortress during Joseon. The fortress strategically used rough terrain to build 12.4km-long walls and military buildings. The pine tree forest inside the fortress has a high preservation value as the largest pine tree habitat in the Seoul metropolitan area. Considered the best-fortified fortress in Korea, Namhansanseong was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2014.

Recently, in an article posted on the website by Japanese cosmetics conglomerate DHC under the name of chairman Yoshida Yoshiaki, it aroused criticism by degrading Koreans and Korean residents in Japan.

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 chairman Yoshida is sharing the view with the current Japanese right-wings aiming for the resurrection of Japanese militarism by marking racial supremacy with the statement: “Japanese are the only Asians that are ethnically close to Europeans.”

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.”

Accordingly, VANK created digital posters in English and Japanese to tell the global community about DHC chairman Mr. Yoshida’s hatred and hate speech toward Korea through social media.

On the digital poster describes the CEO’s hate speech in connection with the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923 followed by Kanto Korean massacre.

In the poster, VANK requests the CEO to quit poisoning the well.

In 1923, more than 400,000 people in Japan died in the Great Kanto earthquake. Fallen into confusion, the Japanese government spread a rumor that “Joseon people(Koreans) are poisoning the wells and going to set off bombs” in order to save the political situation after the earthquake. Because of this rumor, more than 6,000 Joseon people were massacred.

The poster emphasizes that DHC CEO’s hatred and disgust toward Koreans is the same as the Japanese government spreading rumors that “Joseon people are poisoning wells and going to set off bombs” during the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake.

It also introduces that the CEO’s hatred and absurd remarks toward Koreans are poisoning the peaceful future of Korea and Japan in the 21st century, and people all over the world should know this happening.

The poster also introduces the Global Petition web site so that the global community could stop Mr. Yoshida’s hatred and disgust.

Voluntary Agency Network of Korea, VANK has created and started distributing digital posters that demand Amazon, eBay, Walmart to immediately stop selling “kamikaze” items.

Amazon, eBay, Walmart, which are known to be used the most by young people around the world, sell and distribute “kamikaze” related items.

Kamikaze is a symbol of Japanese militarism and imperialism, which is a Japanese military commando that carried out suicide attacks by flying bomb-equipped planes during the World War Ⅱ.

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 crated digital posters that request Amazon, eBay, and Walmart, which operate global e-commerce platforms, take full ban on the sale and distribution of Kamikaze-related items as follows:

The A6M Zero plane which was used as Kamikaze at the end of the World WarⅡ is featured on the poster. And the poster introduces a runway with Amazon, eBay, and Walmart logos to satirize these companies’ use as runways for the 21st century kamikaze revival.

The poster introduces the link of the global petition and says: “Amazon, eBay, Walmart are being used as runways for the revival of Kamikaze. The global community has the obligation and responsibility to expel Kamikaze, a symbol of war crimes, from online shopping malls.”

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!

VANK has created digital posters parodying the distortion of Kimchi by China in English, Chinese and Korean and distributed it to the world through social media channels.

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.

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, Voluntary Agency Network of Korea, VANK intends to tell the world about China’s cultural hegemony and create peace in East Asia.

To achieve this, VANK created digital posters parodying the distortion of Kimchi by China in English, Chinese, Korean and distributed it to the world through social media channels.

The poster introduces the Kimjang culture which is registered in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013, along with Korean Kimchi in red color.

The sentence, “Not all red items are from China. Kimchi is a traditional Korean food that originated in Korea.” tells us that just because Chinese people love the color red, not all red items in the world could come from China.

The poster introduces the address of a global petition that reports ‘China’s Kimchi Distortion.’

Voluntary Agency Network of Korea, VANK is distributing a digital poster that requests France, in which they keep Jikji, to lend or return Jikji to Korea. From 2006, VANK has been working on Jikji Globalization campaign that introduces the world about Jikji. Even though Jikji is a Korean documentary heritage that was listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, it is not in Korea, but in France.

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, and it was listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register on September 4th, 2001. However, even though Jikji, the representative documentary heritage of Korea, must be in Korea where it was first printed, it is in France because it is not a “plundered heritage” but a “purchased heritage”, and Koreans are also not actively demanding the issue of returning Jikji.

The problem is that even France has not returned Jikji to Korea under the pretext of a “purchased heritage”, the French government is not also treating Jikji properly.

Jikji is hidden and stored in the National Library of France (Bibliothèque nationale de France, BnF), and the library does not give it the honor of a national treasure of Korea, such as properly displaying and promoting it to the world. VANK believes that if the French government would not return Jikji to Korea, they need to properly promote Jikji to people in France and around the world. If the French government do not even intend to do that, we believe that it is right to return Jikji to Korea in a form of lending like the royal books “Oegyujanggak books” when considering the world historic value of Jikji printed with movable metal type technology, a world historical invention that changed human history.

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. Currently, the 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.

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 VANK created and is distributing this digital poster to form global public opinion so that France could return or lend JIkji to Korea.

On this digital poster created by VANK introduces a Global petition and shows that Jikji represents Republic of Korea and also emphasizes that Jikji is a valuable historical heritage that reflects Korea’s long history.

Starting from 2020, November 11th is a statutory memorial day designated as ‘International Memorial Day for UN Korean War Veterans’.

Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, in March 2020, a new law(유엔참전용사의 명예 선양 등에 관한 법률, UN Korean War Veteran Honor Enhancement Act) is enacted and from November 11th, the day is designated as ‘International Memorial Day for UN Korean War Veterans’.

On the proposal of a Canadian veteran, at the Busan UN Memorial Cemetery, the ‘Turn Toward Busan’ event has been held every year since 2007 at 11 am on November 11th to commemorate for one minute toward Busan, where soldiers died in battle.

VANK created a digital poster under the slogan “THANK” to remember the noble sacrifices and dedication of veterans around the world who fought in the Korean War 70 years ago, and to take the lead in establishing peace and prosperity on the Korean peninsula.

VANK informs young Koreans that the sacrifice and dedication of the Korean War veterans lay behind in the great prosperity and achievements of Korea, as one of the world’s top 10 economic powers and a cultural powerhouse sweeping the world with the Korean Wave. Through this, Korean teenagers and youths would like to convey a message of thanks to the Korean War veterans around the world.

To this end, VANK created digital posters in both Korean and English to deliver these to veterans around the world through social media.

VANK expects that if the digital posters are shared with Korean netizens through the hashtag #THANK in social media channels, the Korean war veterans will also get to know about this campaign.

In the digital poster, starting with the first letter of ‘THANK’, young Koreans are delivering letters of appreciation to Korean War veterans around the world in Korean and English.

It also introduces the remarkable development of Korea today through the dedication and sacrifice of UN veterans who fought in the Korean War 70 years ago.

THANK의 T: Thank you UN veterans

THANK의 H: Heartily

THANK의 A: Admire you

THANK의 N: November 11th, ‘Int’l Memorial Day for UN Korean War Veterans’

THANK의 K: Korea always remembers you

The poster also shows a thank-you letter sent to VANK by Barbara Steele, a veteran of the US Marine Supply Unit of the Korean War 70 years ago, to remember and appreciate the sacrifices of UN veterans to Korea.

“Korea’s remarkable development of today is the evidence that our participation in the Korean War 70 years ago was a right decision. I am very happy to see that young Koreans haven’t forgotten us and are keeping us in their memories.”

-Ms. Barbara Beltran Steele, U.S. Marine Corps Korean War Veteran-

Through this ‘THANK’ campaign, VANK intends to inform the world that today’s young Koreans remember the noble sacrifices and dedication of veterans around the world who fought in the Korean War 70 years ago.

VANK is telling the world of a Chinese game company’s cultural hegemony, which is making distorted claim that ‘Hanbok is Chinese clothes’.

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.

VANK believe that if we do not stop Chinese government and Chinese corporations from cultural invasion and cultural hegemony, China that distorted Hanbok as Chinese clothing will soon distort all other countries’ history and culture as Chinese culture.

Accordingly, Voluntary Agency Network of Korea, VANK, created a digital poster that report the international community of the cultural invasion of Chinese game company that distorted Hanbok as traditional Chinese clothing and the cultural hegemony of the Chinese government that supports it.

The digital poster describes teenagers from around the world holding their hands in hand and wearing each country’s traditional costume, but the Chinese teenagers are isolated from the group.

On the poster, it says “China’s cultural hegemony will isolate China. The World does not exist for China! China should respect the history and culture of the world!” The poster introduces the Global Petition asking for the international community to support and take part in it, so that the Chinese government would change its cultural hegemony policy.