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<p>May I propose a way to keep our mail boxes from overflowing...</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>The discussion about Armstrong's book is definitely about scholarship and belongs to be put on this list. However, continuing the discussion bits by bits, small information followed by more small information, can become rather tiring.</p>
<p>My suggestion therefore: </p>
<p>Can those involved sit down and make an overall book review summing up all points, which then could be discussed
<em>in toto</em>?</p>
<p>And can information about personal communication stay personal unless the case gets absolutely out of hand and either side or the other must be branded in public?</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Thanks for considering,</p>
<p>Werner<br>
</p>
<br>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font color="#000000" face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>From:</b> Koreanstudies <koreanstudies-bounces@koreanstudies.com> on behalf of Sheila Miyoshi Jager <sheila.jager@oberlin.edu><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, September 28, 2016 12:41 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Korean Studies Discussion List<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [KS] Re-revised posting "Revoking a recommendation"</font>
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<p>Dear KS Subscribers: <br>
<br>
Below is an e-mail I received from Andre Lankov. He requested that I post this for him as he is not currently a KS subscriber.
<br>
</p>
<p>Sheila Miyoshi Jager<br>
<br>
********* <br>
<br>
Dear colleagues, the KS list members, <br>
<br>
The situation with Dr. Armstrong’s book looks grimmer and grimmer <br>
every day. As we all can see from the now easily available data, the <br>
scale and character of the problems are far more serious than could be <br>
expected before. <br>
<br>
I checked more notes to the Soviet archival documents which are <br>
present in the recently published table of problems, and, indeed, the <br>
documents cited have no information which is mentioned in the book. <br>
<br>
I will not bother you with too many facts, but will mention one. On <br>
page 68, Dr. Armstrong cites a Soviet archival document which, as it <br>
is implied, mentions Pyongyang City Rehabilitation Committee (PCRC), <br>
teams of the Soviet technicians and Soviet Ambassador’s personal <br>
involvement with the city reconstruction as well as Kim Il Song’s <br>
chairmanship of the PCRC. Judging by the title (“Interview with <br>
Pyongyang City Committee Vice-Chairman Comrade Kim Song-yong”), the <br>
document in question, indeed, might deal with such matters, but <br>
actually it does not: its main topic is the rules regarding the party <br>
membership, and there are no references to any of the above mentioned <br>
topics. <br>
<br>
This is only one of many problems – and I’ve checked only part of the <br>
problematic footnotes. <br>
<br>
However, there is still some probability that we are dealing with a <br>
chain of unintentional mistakes, and, frankly, remarkably shoddy <br>
handling of primary sources, and not with a massive case of foot-mining <br>
(or, likely, something far worse). The matter should be clarified. From where I sit,
<br>
it seems that the only way to resolve the mounting doubts is for <br>
Dr. Armstrong to produce the archival documents he used in <br>
writing the book – to be more precise, the documents which contain <br>
information and data presented in the book’s text. If this can be done, <br>
the sooner the better. Producing these documents will dispel most of the suspicions
<br>
which are growing fast. But even if this is done, the mishandling of footnotes <br>
and/or sources on such scale needs some clarification, I presume. <br>
<br>
Andre Lankov </p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 9/27/2016 12:55 AM, Balazs Szalontai wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica Neue-Light,Helvetica Neue Light,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,Sans-Serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71096"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71097">Dear Subscribers,</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71099"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71100"> </span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71102"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71103">Let me quote a few sentences from my latest post of 20 September 2016:</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71105" style="text-align: justify;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71106">“</span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71107" style="line-height: 107%; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
Professor Armstrong contacted me privately on 17 September, I asked him to send me a list of the inaccuracies he had identified. I also asked him to scan the AVPRF documents cited in the section of pp. 54-126. If I can see the cited documents, it will be easy
to reconstruct which ones contain information compatible with the information provided in
<i id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71108">Tyranny of the Weak</i>, and which ones do not. On 17 September, Professor Armstrong expressed his readiness to start preparing such a list of inaccuracies on 19 September. I welcomed his decision. If I receive
this list and the actual Russian documents, it will be far easier for me to decide if this matter can be settled privately or not.”</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71110" style="text-align: justify;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71111" style="line-height: 107%; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71113" style="text-align: justify;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71114" style="line-height: 107%; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">So far I have not received such a list, or any scanned
documents, or further private messages, from Professor Armstrong. Hopefully they will be provided later. In the meantime, let me provide some additional information in a systematized form. As it was correctly pointed out by a subscriber, it is more effective
and less disconcerting for readers to collect at least some of the currently known cases of invalid source citations in a single downloadable table than to post them one by one. This way the list would not be overloaded by messages related to a single thread.
The following table, to which readers may get access by clicking on the links below, is a longer and more detailed version of the list that Jiyul Kim posted on H-Asia on September 20, 2016. It includes 33 cases of invalid source citations in Charles K. Armstrong's
"Tyranny of the Weak," complete with detailed analysis of each case (which can be opened by clicking on the links in the table, then clicking on the second “floating” link that appears). It also includes a statement of the problem and a call for further investigation.</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71116" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71117"> </span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71119" style="line-height: normal;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71120">Balazs Szalontai</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71122"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71123"> </span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71125" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71126"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71127">LINK to SHEET</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71128"></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71130" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71131" style="font-family: "Segoe UI",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71133" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71134" style="font-family: "Segoe UI",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a id="LPlnk112538" href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1R28ryCj8CTlgLKJqIKLe26eFlSq5SeiPODtSQUyCTs8/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank" previewremoved="true"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71136" style="color: rgb(25, 106, 212);">https://docs.google.com/
spreadsheets/d/ 1R28ryCj8CTlgLKJqIKLe26eFlSq5S eiPODtSQUyCTs8/edit?usp= sharing</span></a></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71138" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71139" style="font-family: "Segoe UI",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71141" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71142"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71143">LINK to PDF</span></b><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71144"></span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71146" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71147" style="font-family: "Segoe UI",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71149" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71150" style="font-family: "Segoe UI",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a id="LPlnk501766" href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2Ojwug7juTIdWh0ZDJWamtmZFk/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" previewremoved="true"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71152" style="color: rgb(25, 106, 212);">https://drive.google.com/file/
d/ 0B2Ojwug7juTIdWh0ZDJWamtmZFk/ view?usp=sharing</span></a></span>
<p></p>
<div id="LPBorder_GT_14753214044940.12821893521193828" style="width: 100%; text-indent: 0px; overflow: auto; margin-bottom: 20px; display: inline-block;">
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<div id="LPRemovePreviewContainer_14753214044890.23409699912447562" style="float: right;">
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<div id="LPTitle_14753214044890.11094718216634475" style="top: 0px; color: rgb(0, 120, 215); line-height: 21px; font-family: "wf_segoe-ui_light", "Segoe UI Light", "Segoe WP Light", "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 21px; font-weight: 400;">
<a id="LPUrlAnchor_14753214044910.9700506214167393" style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2Ojwug7juTIdWh0ZDJWamtmZFk/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">(F) Charles K. Armstrong’s Tyranny of the Weak (2013): A Sampling of Text-Citation
Disconnects - PDF Portrait OK.pdf</a></div>
<div id="LPMetadata_14753214044910.8816428321055886" style="margin: 10px 0px 16px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); line-height: 14px; font-family: "wf_segoe-ui_normal", "Segoe UI", "Segoe WP", Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400;">
drive.google.com</div>
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</tbody>
</table>
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<p></p>
<br>
</div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71154"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71155"> </span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71157"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71158">Best regards,</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71160"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71161">Balazs Szalontai</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_70737"></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71163" dir="ltr"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1474948336475_71164">Korea University</span></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Sheila Miyoshi Jager
Professor of East Asian Studies
Oberlin College
</pre>
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