[KS] Interesting site

[Henny Savenije]

For those of you who don't want to surf the net, I picked this up from the 
following URL

  http://goldsea.com/Poll/corea.html

I have no intention to fire up the discussion we already had a couple of 
months ago, this is just for your information, since I have proof that the 
name Korea existed already before the Japanese came in.



       KOREA OR COREA?

We at GoldSea choose to honor the more natural rendering commonly used in 
the English-speaking world prior to the Japanese annexation and 
colonialization of Corea beginning in 1905.
      American and English books published during the latter half of the 
19th century generally referred to the nation as "Corea" as recently as the 
years immediately preceding Japan's formal annexation of Corea in 1910. An 
1851 map of East Asia by Englishman John Tallis labels the nation Corea. 
The same spelling is used in The Mongols, a 1908 history of the Mongol race 
by Jeremiah Curtin, the world's foremost Asia scholar of the day, as well 
as in several books by American missionaries published between 1887 and 1905.
      Japan's annexation of Corea didn't become formal until 1910, but for 
all practical purposes Japan had become the power that regulated Corea's 
relations with the outside world in 1897 when it defeated China in a war 
over Japan's ambition to exercise control over Corea. The only other power 
willing to contest Japan's supremacy in the Corean peninsula was Russia. 
When it was easily defeated by Japan at Port Arthur in 1905, the annexation 
of Corea became a fait accompli. Anxious to avoid a costly Pacific 
conflict, President Wilson ignored the pleas of a delegation of Corean 
patriots and their American missionary supporters and turned a blind eye to 
Japan's acts of formal annexation and colonization of Corea.  During that 
period Japan mounted a campaign to push for the "Korea" useage by the 
American press. Why? For one of Japan's prospective colonies to precede its 
master in the alphabetical lineup of nations would be unseemly,
Japanese imperialists decided.
      Japan's colonial rule over Corea ended on August 15, 1945 when it 
lost World War II. Now that Corea is eagerly shedding the last vestiges of 
the colonial period, even demolishing public buildings erected by the 
Japanese (for example, the monstrously immense colonial governor's
mansion), forward-thinking Corean and Corean American journalists, 
intellectuals and scholars are urging the American media to revert to the 
original, more natural rendering of Corea.
     The changeover will pose a problem only in English-speaking nations as 
other western nations never
accepted the "K" spelling. For example, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, 
Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, among many others, use the "C" 
rendering.  English convention, too, is on the side of the Corea rendering. 
Non-European names are romanized with a "C" (Cambodia, Canada, cocoa, 
Comanche, Congo, and even old Canton, for example) except where the first 
letter is followed by an "e" or an "i", (as in Kenya). Other than that, the 
"K" spelling is used only in connoting childlike ignorance of spelling 
conventions ("Kitty Kat" and "Skool",
for examples).  Therefore, the American "K" spelling is
   1.offensive from a historical standpoint (remember "Peking" and "Canton"?);
   2.violates western rendering conventions;
   3.suggests a lack of sophistication toward Corea; and
   4.by connoting naiveté, imputes a lack of sophistication to Corea and 
its people.

The Corea rendering will ultimately become universal when more Americans 
are educated as to its offensive and relatively recent origin. The 
English-speaking world was responsible for agreeing to Japanese efforts to 
change the spelling of Corea's name in English useage. Who better than 
concerned Asian Americans to help change it back?  Tell us how you feel 
about this issue by taking a moment to vote in our poll!

Should we use the conventional spelling of Korea, or Corea, the spelling in 
common western use before Japan began taking steps toward annexing Corea in 
1904?

(Updated 3/25/00 to reflect the 100 most recent valid votes.
NOTE: While we do appreciate the strength of conviction that motivates 
repeated votes from a single computer, the practice does not help your 
cause as such votes are screened out.)
Stick with Korea | 19%  Help change American useage back to Corea | 81%
-----------------------------
Henny  (Lee Hae Kang)

Feel free to visit
http://www.henny-savenije.demon.nl
and feel the thrill of Hamel discovering Korea (1653-1666)



%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%