[KS] Library of Congress Korean Controversy

[J.Scott Burgeson]

Hello Anne--
   thank you for your comments. I am mainly arguing for some intellectual consistency in this matter. The argument is frequently made on the Korean side that Japanese textbooks which state the Japanese position on Dokdo-Takeshima is a "violation" of ROK national sovereignty. As far as I know Hana Kim is a Canadian national of Korean descent and is clearly not a US citizen (indeed, the recent Chosun Ilbo profile of her describes her as "Korean), so she is certainly lobbying on behalf of a foreign government here. Perhaps if she was a taxpaying US citizen I would be more open to her lobbying efforts in the US, double-standards notwithstanding.
   As for the spam charge, I've noticed a recent trend here on the List that can indeed be characterized as nationalistic spam. Last month, for instance, another contributor to the List made several specious claims regarding the US beef importation issue, including using the controversial (and subsequently debunked) PD Such'op program as a source. I asked not once but twice for this contributor to verify her sources but was ignored both times. In such cases, when drive-by commenters here are not interested in having honest debate then they are simply spammers, and I am suprised that more people here are not offended when this happens.
   If Hana Kim is interested in having an honest debate about the Dokto-Takeshima issue (which I personally question given that she characterizes the US Library of Congress' planned decision to change its English-language name for Dokto as "arbitrary," when in fact it would be a more accurate reflection of official US policy), then that would be most welcome. Indeed, I would be very happy to see other third-party scholars, geographers in particular, weigh in on this very sensitive issue, in the interest of objective scholarly pursuit!
   --Scott Bug


--- On Fri, 7/18/08, Anne Hilton <ahilton at u.washington.edu> wrote:

> From: Anne Hilton <ahilton at u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Re: [KS] Library of Congress Korean Controversy
> To: "Korean Studies Discussion List" <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
> Date: Friday, July 18, 2008, 4:36 PM
> Dear Scott,
> 
> Should Hana Kim, then, be barred from protesting a decision
> made by the US
> Library of Congress simply by being Korean? For that
> matter, do you mean to
> argue that all Korean Studies librarians in North America
> of Korean descent
> are interfering with official US government policy because
> of their ancestry
> (or citizenship)?
> 
> Following your logic, were a group of expatriates in the
> ROK to decide to
> protest the ROK government's decision to change visa
> regulations for English
> teachers, for example, they would also be
> "interfering" with ROK government
> policy.
> 
> Regardless of your opinion on the US Library of
> Congress's decision - or
> anyone else's opinion, for that matter - your labeling
> of Hana Kim's email
> as "nationalistic spam" is much more
> inappropriate than any purported
> hypocrisy within the content of that email.
> 
> Anne Hilton
> 
> 
> 2008/7/17 J.Scott Burgeson <jsburgeson at yahoo.com>:
> 
> > Is there such a thing as political spam, or more to
> the point
> > nationalisitic spam? Of course there is -- even in the
> KS List, apparently!
> >
> > It is my understanding that the official position of
> the US government is
> > to remain neutral in the Dokto-Takeshima territorial
> dispute, since its
> > legal status remains contested from an international
> law standpoint. (And we
> > must note that the ROK has refused to resolve the
> matter in the
> > International Court of Justice for the last 5
> decades.)
> >
> > Thus, choosing the neutral name "Liancourt
> Rocks" by, for example, the the
> > U.S. Library of Congress, would seem to be a
> responsible reflection of this
> > more general position held by the US government.
> >
> > Is it not more than a little ironic, then, that while
> on the one hand most
> > South Koreans complain about Japanese interference
> with ROK national
> > sovereignty over the Dokto-Takeshima matter, Hana Kim
> has essentially
> > interfered with US national sovereignty by inserting
> herself so directly
> > into official US government policy?
> >
> > I for one am rather offended by such a hypocritical
> double standard.
> >
> > --Scott Bug
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On Thu, 7/17/08, Hana Kim
> <hn.kim at utoronto.ca> wrote:
> >
> > > From: Hana Kim <hn.kim at utoronto.ca>
> > > Subject: [KS] Library of Congress Korean
> Controversy
> > > To: "Korean Studies Discussion List"
> <koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws>
> > > Date: Thursday, July 17, 2008, 6:13 PM
> > > Dear Koreanists:
> > >
> > > As you may have heard, the Tok Island issue has
> recently
> > > spread its
> > > controversy all the way to the United States
> Library of
> > > Congress and all
> > > of our North American university libraries.
> > >
> > > As the Chair of the Committee on Korean Materials
> under the
> > > auspices of
> > > the Council on East Asian Libraries of the
> Association for
> > > Asian
> > > Studies, I head an organization of Korean Studies
> > > librarians in North
> > > America.
> > >
> > > Recently, we were shocked to learn that the U.S.
> Library of
> > > Congress had
> > > arbitrarily planned to officially change the
> existing
> > > subject heading of
> > > "Tok Island (Korea)" to the new heading
> of "Liancourt
> > > Rocks."
> > > Furthermore, within this new subject heading the
> existing
> > > broader
> > > explanation of "Islands Korea (South)"
> would be changed
> > > to "Islands of
> > > the Sea of Japan."  A closed Library of
> Congress meeting
> > > to ratify this
> > > decision was planned for July 16.
> > >
> > > Since this plan was not widely known, our
> organization took
> > > it upon
> > > ourselves to voice a strong protest to this
> sudden change,
> > > and also made
> > > the relevant South Korean governmental bodies
> aware of this
> > > situation.
> > > Thanks to the efforts of many parties, I am
> pleased to
> > > report that the
> > > Library of Congress has now officially postponed
> any
> > > decision on this
> > > matter until there is further international
> resolution of
> > > this issue.
> > >
> > > As Koreanists, I felt that you should be made
> aware of this
> > > matter, and
> > > I hope that you will actively make your own views
> on this
> > > matter known
> > > to the relevant parties.  In addition, I feel
> that this
> > > matter also
> > > requires the further study and deliberation of
> experts such
> > > as
> > > yourselves.  I hope that we may see much
> scholarly activity
> > > to elucidate
> > > this delicate issue.
> > >
> > > Should you require any more detailed information,
> I would
> > > be happy to
> > > share it with you.
> > >
> > > Sincerely,
> > >
> > > Hana Kim
> > > Chair, Committee on Korean Materials
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> ***************************************************************
> > >      Hana Kim, Korea Studies Librarian
> > >      Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library
> > >      University of Toronto Libraries
> > >      130 St. George Street, 8th Floor, Room 8049
> > >      Toronto, Ontario
> > >      Canada M5S 1A5
> > >      Tel.  (416)  978 1570 (7th Fl.) / 978  3805
> (8th Fl.)
> > >      Fax.  (416)  978  0863
> > >      Email: hn.kim at utoronto.ca
> > >      Web: http://www.library.utoronto.ca/east/
> > >
> ***************************************************************
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >