It just makes you wonder who works at the State Department when they make comments like this:
“I think you leave it to both South Korea and Japan to each describe that relationship,” State Department Sean McCormack was quoted as saying in a daily briefing by Yonhap News. “We independently have good relationships with them.”
“It’s an issue for the two countries,” McCormack said. “As I understand, it relates to a long-standing territorial dispute between the two countries.”
“But this is not a new issue,” he said. “And I think every three years or so it’s an issue that comes up, specifically on this territorial dispute.” [Korea Times]
You think every three to four years? Dokdo nonsense happens every year. I had to create an entire category just to archive the Dokdo Madness in. Likewise this will end the way it always does, a lot of huffing and puffing from the Korean public, Korean politicians scoring maximum political points from it, soldiers “alerted” on the islets, and the coast guard sends more ships to defend Dokdo. Meanwhile life in Japan goes on where the vast majority of the people have no idea what the Takeshima/Dokdo dispute is.
Popularity: 2%
:mrgreen:...
8:40 am on July 16th, 2008 1
Good move by the Korean governmnet to stir this up again and shift the focus off of US Beef and all that crap. The Korean public doesn’t even realize it is being manipulated.
8:54 am on July 16th, 2008 2
It is pretty ridiculous for Korea to be wriled up over a minute territorial “threat” from Japan when the only persons they should be protesting right now is their mirror-images up north who seems to think that their lives are as expendable as ants on an anthill.
11:03 am on July 16th, 2008 3
No one cares about this issue internationally — and now the US will emphasize the Dokdo/Takeshima are disputed islets by moving its classification in the Library of Congress under the heading of “Liancourt Rocks” — under the broader heading of “Islands in the Sea of Japan.”
Chosun Ilbo
11:14 am on July 16th, 2008 4
About that comment from the US State Department, it is reasonable. It is a pooh-pooh statement that the US wants no part in the school yard fight — and is not going to take sides on the issue. End of topic… (US slams book closed on issue.)
12:07 pm on July 16th, 2008 5
From the Chosun Ilbo article linked in Kalani’s comment:
Well, that’s honest to acknowledge that only Korea uses a different name.
12:30 pm on July 16th, 2008 6
Minor correction: State Department, not US Embassy…
2:05 pm on July 16th, 2008 7
More large scale protests in Korea during the summer of 2008. We are told it is about a health risk concern posed by “American” beef. A middle aged housewife is shot to death by a North Korean soldier at a tourist resort, and the North Koreans seem to be changing their story and won’t cooperate. I don’t see large scale protests about this. Bottom line: Although I would not draw a direct connection between the previously mentioned issues and the U.S. Library of Congress’s filing of Dokdo under “Sea of Japan,” I am not surprised to see it happen.
2:07 pm on July 16th, 2008 8
In my adult conversation class today, we played the “how much would you pay” game — if somebody had the power to grant it to you, how much would you pay to have super strength? To be a 10/10 on the attractiveness scale? How much would you pay to see Korea win the Soccer World Cup? How much . . .
Even though I’m not Korean, if I’m living here long-term, I would pay $2000 to hear a full apology from Japan re: comfort women, dokdo, and colonization, that is to say, regardless of culpability, historical accuracy and whatnot, I’d pay two grand to never have to hear about it again.
Somehow, somebody STILL managed to be offended by my saying I’d love to see Japan come clean.
Sigh.
6:24 pm on July 16th, 2008 9
Thanks Rob correction made. What I didn’t like about the State Department comment was that they send guy out there to comment on the Dokdo issue and it sounds like he knows nothing about it.
6:28 pm on July 16th, 2008 10
“Somehow, somebody STILL managed to be offended by my saying I’d love to see Japan come clean.”
Because then the Korean public would have one less thing to bitch about, rather than looking at themselves honestly.
9:34 pm on July 16th, 2008 11
Bah, how many times do we need to see/hear an apology from Japan? Money was paid in the 1960’s, most if not all of the offending pls are dead why can’t me move on? Calling the water off Korea the East sea? It’s the fookin pacific ocean. Give it a break. The economy is spiraling down. The won is only afloat because the BoK is supporting it. South Korean citizens are being killed at resort areas and all anyone wants to talk aobut is Dok-do? BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBlow me!
12:09 am on July 17th, 2008 12
“Somehow, somebody STILL managed to be offended by my saying I’d love to see Japan come clean.”
Because Koreans dont wany an apology, they want a reason to feel morally superior and a reason to be angry. Japan needs to tell Korea to get lost.
12:16 am on July 17th, 2008 13
“South Korean citizens are being killed at resort areas”
North Korea is now a resort? Just because the Korean propaganda machine calls a pile of dog poo, a pile diamonds, don’t make it so. And there is a Korean collective yawn over the death of some old spy.
4:02 am on July 17th, 2008 14
“The U.S. Library of Congress has withdrawn its plan to review the renaming of the Dokdo islets after protests from Korean Americans. … Mr. Kim said he called the chairman on the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment and five other members of Congress, urging Congress not to meddle in the Dokdo issue. … He stressed continued efforts to make sure the U.S. Congress uses the name Dokdo when referring to the islets, noting that the U.S. government and White House currently use an antiquated international moniker, “Liancourt Rocks.” (KBS Global)
This is unbelievable. A South Korea lobby group (disguised as the Korean-American Voters’ Council) tells the US Congress not to “meddle” in the Dokdo issue, but then sees to it that the US Congress uses only the “Dokdo” moniker — instead of Takeshima/Liancourt Rocks — which in effect means the US Congress will take sides on this issue — and that means meddling!!!! Huh????
I hope this is not true.
Sorry. There is something very, very wrong with this report when a small “lobby group” of a FOREIGN COUNTRY — because its actions show exactly what it is — can control the actions of a US government department.
My only question is — Is the Korean-American Voters Council registered as a lobbying agent for South Korea? Then we get into a very different bucket of worms.
4:26 am on July 17th, 2008 15
To add more crud to this discussion, “online encyclopedias around the world are increasingly adopting a French name, Liancourt Rocks, to refer to the South Korean islets of Dokdo rather than the indigenous name, apparently as a result of Japanese lobbying, a non-governmental organization said on 15 Jul. Some encyclopedias call them the Liancourt Rocks, named after a French whaling ship that first introduced the islets to Europe. According to NGO groups, Japan reportedly backs this reference to reinforce its attempt to lay claim to the islets.” (Yonhap News.)
So from my previous post, one can see that though the online encyclopedias, the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the Board on Geographic Names (BGN) are using “Liancourt Rocks”, the Korean-American Voters’ Council was able to make the US Congress do an about face. I say that something does NOT smell right at all.
11:33 am on July 17th, 2008 16
The plot thickens…
Now the Chosun Ilbo has an article of a Korean librarian in Toronto, Canada stopping the Library of Congress action by an email she sent while nursing her son with a fever. Give me a break… So the Korean lobby group did what?
Chosun Ilbo
In the same article, “Dr. Barbara Tillett, chief of the Library of Congress Cataloging Policy and Support Office, said she was withdrawing the suggestion to change the subject heading for Dokdo to Liancourt Rocks, which was submitted in December 2007. Tillett added the discussion will be delayed until there is an enlightened international resolution and a decision by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.”
The bottomline is that the decision has been delayed — not stopped. According to other sources, the US Board of Geographic Names (BGN) had already made up its mind. So what is really going on?
3:39 pm on July 17th, 2008 17
More on Korean unregisterd lobbyists.
Here is more informaiotn in Koran with links to the letters.
http://cynews.cyworld.com/Service/news/ShellView.asp?ArticleID=2008071713302799144&LinkID=1
What is this BS from Helen Kim and how does she represent “East Asian Libraries”? Sounds like a front for promoting backwards Korean culture and thinking.
3:47 pm on July 17th, 2008 18
@14
“Sorry. There is something very, very wrong with this report when a small “lobby group” of a FOREIGN COUNTRY — because its actions show exactly what it is — can control the actions of a US government department.”
They’ve been doing it for many years. Check out the Congressional Caucus on Korea. It’s nothing more than a group of congressmen taking kick backs from a foreign power.