It Makes a Difference to the Sheep

KOREA, CHINA AND KOGURYO. My in-box is starting to fill with earnest pleas from VANK (Voluntary Agency Network of Korea) to pay attention to the latest conflict between China and the ROK over the ethnic/national status of the ancient kingdom of Koguryo (others have posted on the controversy here and here). Some snippets:

In particular, I would like to let you know about the Chinese scheme to alter the history of Goguryeo (BC 37-AD 668), a Korean kingdom with a vast territory ranging from the northern part of the peninsula to Manchuria, into that of a Chinese regional kingdom.


The Chinese government launched the project in February 2002, the Northeast Asian Project, to study the history of the area northeast of ancient China under the auspices of its social and scientific academy with a budget of 3 trillion won, US$2 billion, igniting fears that it was trying to strengthen its political influence in Northeast Asia.

Through the project, China is seeking to incorporate the ancient Korean kingdom into a Chinese historical timeline, even claiming that the people of Goguryeo originated from the Chinese "han" tribe.

Consequently, China is trying to rob 700 years of Korean history, which could seriously damage Korea's roots and heritage.

Here's more:

The seriousness of the situation lies in the fact that the Chinese government is taking the initiative in distorting history, making its political intentions clear. It seems obvious that the Chinese scheme under the name of the "Northeast Asia Project" is aimed at providing historical backup to Beijing's political concerns over the potential instability among the Korean-Chinese following Korean unification.

The increasing number of North Korean defectors crossing the porous border into China in recent years is already causing problems to Chinese security and diplomatic authorities.

If you studied world history you would see how serious problems could arise when a government take the initiative in distorting history, making its political intentions.

They even direct toward a website where I can learn the "truth" about Korean history. (More enlightenment to be found here).

So now that I have been enlightened and "warned," what I am supposed to do now?

UPDATE: Now I'm receiving a number of form letters from earnest Korean middle school students. These contain explicit instructions but they appear to be aimed more at the powers that be at UNESCO than at me personally:

Thus, we call on you to defer your decision on China's application until China, North and South Korea agree on proper terms to prevent China's possible trial of history distortion or to give China a chance to clear the conspiracy. We again remind you that China's winning the bid without any strict terms will provide China the best condition to "claim Koguryo," which is just the beginning of further history distortion, and that may cause a great political chaos in Northeast Asia. The terms should include:
(1) China must clearly specify Koguryo is an old kingdom of present Koreans in North and South Korea. (2) China must allow Korean scholars' full access to the sites that is completely limited now. Until recently Korean scholars have kept being denied access to Koguryo ruins as well as a museum opened to the public. We have a right to pursue a research on the remains of our ancestors. (3) In the long term, it is worthwhile to pursue a joint research project among China, North and South Korea.

Secondly we call for the immediate adoption of strict and detailed plans to monitor China's any trial of history distortion in the area under the supervision of multinational personnel.

Finally, we call on you to adopt a letter including North and South Korea, which are the two countries concerned with this issue, into members of the ICOMOS.