Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Voluntary Agency Network of Korea UK's new slogan: We are Pure Korean Bloody Vankers!

Check out the aforementioned VANK's website for a blast of mind-chillingly moronic blind patriotism from a group of children with no rational thinking skills and poor English skills. some highlights for your edification.
From a girl studying in Indonesia:

I introduced ‘East Sea to Panji, my first foreign friend. . .When I sent Panji the world map with ‘East Sea’ described on which the VANK sent to me, I was so glad to send Panji the map describing it as ‘East Sea,’ finally. . .Many students asked him the reason to put it on the bulletin. He told that he answered them it is a finest map describing as ‘East Sea’, not sea of Japan because it is Korean water. . .And he asked them to pronounce it not ‘East Sea’ but as ‘Dong-hae’ and taught them few Korean words learning from me.

Good work, now a school full of Indonesians know that you're insecure. Here's a girl in Canada:
I gave my teacher a world map with ‘East Sea’ described on. My teacher was cautious if many students would be in confusion to see the map describing as ‘East Sea’ because most of the textbooks and other books describes in Sea of Japan. But I showed the website which corrected the name to ‘East Sea’ from ‘Sea of Japan’ because of the letter from the VANK and told the behind story of ‘East Sea.’ She changed a little, but still hesitated to accept it. However she did neither deny my opinion. Later, I made a disk with some case stories of conversion from Sea of Japan to East Sea, because I felt that my teacher still didn’t buy my word.As my teacher received my disk, she repeated to thank to me. Since then, we have replaced the world map describing East Sea, no more Sea of Japan.
What a pain this kid must have been. If I were the teacher I would have given in too, just to get some peace.
Here's something from the mission statement of the 'Overseas Korean Project'

And it is a very significant fact that we have Koreans in the most important countries in the viewpoint of trade and cooperation, such as Japan(890,000), China(2,140,000), USA(2,150,000) and former Russia(530,000), total of 5,710,000, in order for us to unify the country and advance to the core country of the North eastern Asian block.

More than anything, when I read the VANK website I am gripped by a sadness, seeing people try to take a language, a food culture, a lowest common denominator-y pop culture, some territorial disputes, and turn it into a nation. It's lame.

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