[KS] Racial Purity in North/South Korea

Robertson, Jeffrey (DPS) Jeffrey.Robertson at aph.gov.au
Wed May 17 19:16:37 EDT 2006


FYI, on the subject of racial purity... from Digital Chosun 17 May 2006:


Two Koreas' Top Brass Resort to Racist Mudslinging 
 
The second day of talks between North and South Korean generals on
Wednesday got off on the wrong foot when delegates stooped to
mudslinging over the racial purity of Korea. The debate erupted in small
talk between the two delegation leaders ahead of discussions that failed
to agree on the re-alignment of the maritime border. 

The North's delegation leader Maj. Gen. Kim Yong-chul started off an
unfortunate thread by quipping, "Since the climate in the South is
warmer, the farmers must be hard at work." His South Korean counterpart
Maj. Gen. Han Min-gu of the South replied, "The population of the
farming communities is actually falling, and many bachelors from such
areas marry women from Mongolia, Vietnam and the Philippines." 

Kim reportedly grimaced and snapped, "Our nation has always considered
its pure lineage to be of great importance -- I am concerned that our
singularity will disappear." Instead of contradicting him, the South
Korean delegation said such dilution of the bloodline was "but a drop of
ink in the Han River," adding this would cause no problems "if we all
live together." But this failed to mollify the North Korean. "Since time
immemorial, our nation has been a land of abundant beauty. Not even one
drop of ink must be allowed to fall into the Han River," Kim thundered. 

"Our history shows that we were able to maintain the purity of the
Korean race even while living together with the Jurchen and the
Manchurians of the region," Han countered. "That may be true," Kim
pressed on, "but from Old Chosun" -- the earliest Korean kingdom that
ended in 108 BC and spanned from western Manchuria through the
northwestern regions of the Korean Peninsula and according to legend
started in 2333 BC ? "through the Middle Ages and the modern era, it is
undeniable that we existed as one unified race." 

url:
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200605/200605170016.html

 




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