Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has released a New Year’s broadcast that is sure to cause a strong reaction from China and Korea:

In a nationally broadcast news conference marking the start of the new year, Mr. Koizumi defended his annual visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, the memorial to Japan’s war dead, although the visits have frozen Japan’s diplomatic relations with its neighbors. The leaders of China and South Korea have refused to meet Mr. Koizumi in protest over the visits to the shrine, which also honors top-ranked war criminals and is considered a symbol of Japanese militarism throughout Asia.

“I’ve never once closed the door to negotiations with China and South Korea,” he added.

I think Prime Minister Koizumi is a good leader that has been managing his country very well and has been a great ally for the United States which I appreciate, however when it comes to this whole Yasukuni Shrine nonsense I can not find any common ground with him. I have been to the shrine and I did find it offensive. It wasn’t offensive for the war criminal aspect often mentioned by Korea and China because a war criminal like General Tojo for example is not glorified at the shrine from what I could see.

What did offend me was the outrageous interpretation of history during World War II. You can check out my posting on the shrine for more details, but Koizumi is definitely wrong visiting the shrine. The history is so skewed I can understand the Korean and Chinese perspective. However, I still don’t think this should cause the sometime childish reactions from China and Korea, but I can see why it would strain diplomatic relations.

With that said Koizumi made this New Year’s message for a reason and I think it is safe to say that Koizumi is pissed off about what happened to the Japanese diplomat in China:

There was no immediate comment from Beijing. The growing rivalry between China and Japan, Asia’s two great powers, was punctuated in recent days by the feud over the diplomat’s suicide in 2004. A Japanese newsweekly reported recently that the diplomat killed himself after he was blackmailed into providing sensitive information by a Chinese agent who threatened to reveal his affair with a bar hostess.

The Japanese foreign ministry attributed the death to “regrettable actions by local Chinese security authorities” in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. China denied the charge, accusing Japan of trying to “smear China’s image.”

I doubt China will ever come clean on this, but it is a tad bit hypocritical for the Chinese if they did do this, to say that Koizumi is provoking the Chinese with the shrine visits when they are blackmailing Japanese diplomats. Koizumi knows this and wanted to make a point to the Chinese with his statemetns that the Japanese aren’t going to back down from Chinese provocations as well.

Here is a strange story of a Korean athlete who was suspended from the Korean National Fencing Team because she had unauthorized plastic surgery:

The Korean Fencing Federation (KFF) said Tuesday that it is currently in the process of determining disciplinary measures for Nam Hyun-hee, 25, with the final decision to be made at a committee meeting slated for today, the sports-governing body said.

“A national team athlete can’t be an entertainer, and it’s incomprehensible why she went out of the training center to get plastic surgery,’’ a KFF official was quoted as saying by the Yonhap News Agency.

How can the KFF say it is “incomprehensible” to have plastic surgery when they authorized her to have eyelid surgery to begin with?

Also can any Koreans out there confirm if eyelashes getting in the way of the eyelid is a common Korean problem? This whole thing seems overblown and silly.

I wonder if he was making a stand against taxi cab related incidents?:

South Korean police said they are seeking an arrest warrant for a man accused of vandalizing a statue outside of Camp Casey’s main gate.

Yangju police detective Yun Yeo-gil said the man, identified only as Choi, smashed the statue with a brick at about 10:20 p.m. Dec. 31. Riot police guarding the U.S. base apprehended Choi and turned him over to local police. Yun said Choi also is accused of vandalizing the statue on Dec. 15. Choi’s anti-American sentiments and state of intoxication led to the incidents, according to Yun.

The detective said the statue, of an American Indian, suffered $300 to $400 in damage.

Hideyoshi knew that to regain the military power to restart his campaign in Korea, he would need to eliminate Admiral Yi Sun-shin. Showing the cunning that Hideyoshi was famous for he decided that the best way to eliminate Yi was not through warfare, but Korean court intrigue.

The Japanese sent a soldier named Yoshira to the military camp of the Korean General Kim Eung-su where he convinced General Kim that he would be willing to spy on the Japanese military for him. General Kim fell for the plan and Yoshira supplied Kim with intelligence that led to a few Korean military victories that caused Kim to trust Yoshira even more.

Eventually Yoshira gave Kim information that Japanese General Kato Kiyomasa would be arriving on the Korean peninsula with his naval armada from Japan at a certain date and location. Yoshira suggested that Admiral Yi should be sent to ambush and sink the armada. General Kim sent a request to King Seonjo to have Yi ambush the Japanese armada. The king concurred and General Kim ordered Yi to ambush the Japanese armada. However, Yi refused the order because the area where the armada was to arrive was narrow and studded with underwater rocks. Yi relied on tactics and maneuvers to overcome numerically superior Japanese armadas. He knew that this location would lead to the destruction of his smaller fleet and refused to fight the Japanese there. Plus Yi felt the intelligence was dubious to begin with.

General Kim immediately informed King Seonjo of Yi’s noncompliance and unbelievably the King in 1597 during a time of war, had Korea’s best military commander and hero Admiral Yi arrested, imprisoned, and tortured over his noncompliance. King Seonjo also decided to have Admiral Won Kyun, who Yi had initially saved from the Japanese attack during the opening months of the war replace Yi. Won was another commander that heard served in both North Korea and in Cholla-do with Yi and was jealous of Yi’s success over the years. With General Kim’s help he took over Yi’s naval forces and became the head admiral of the Korean navy while Yi remained in prison.

The King wanted to have Yi executed, but his supporters at the royal court led by his childhood friend Prime Minister Yu Song-nyong were able to convince the king to spare Yi and instead, once again, Yi was demoted to the rank of a common infantry soldier. The ever honorable Yi executed his duties as soldier without complaint or ego. This reaction to such treachery committed against him only emboldened his image in the minds of the Korean populace.

Map depicting locations of major bases and battlefields during the 1592-1598 Japanese Invasion of Korea.

While Yi was executing his duties as an infantry soldier, Hideyoshi saw an opening to begin his second invasion of Korea in 1597 with Yi out of the way. Hideyoshi sent over a thousand ships to Korea filled with over 140,000 Japanese soldiers. The Korean and Chinese soldiers, however, were much better prepared for the second Japanese invasion. The combined Sino-Korean force were able to keep the Japanese bogged down in the southeastern portion of the country, while Admiral Won began his assault on the Japanese naval forces using the intelligence provided by the spy Yoshira. Won to his credit had also doubted the intelligence but felt compelled to obey the orders of the King. Won knowing full well the odds were against his success led the Korean navy into battle. Won would not be able to replicate the successes of his predecessor and lost the battle and most likely if Yi Sun-shin was still in command of the Korean navy, the Japanese ships would have never reached the Korean mainland.

Won had inherited from Yi a Korean navy with over 160 warships and 30,000 experienced crew members. Won, however, replaced all of Yi’s battle tested officers with his own men and showed little regard for common soldiers. In addition the arrogant Won applied little strategy during his assaults and took to many chances. His arrogance would catch up with him on August 28, 1597, when the Japanese conducted a successful night attack on the Korean navy located at Chilchonnyang which is a narrow straight near Goeje-do Island.

Won ordered his ships to close in and attack the Japanese ships. This would end up being the tactical blunder that doomed the Korean navy. The Japanese excelled at close quarters combat due to their samurai training and mentality. The Japanese soldiers quickly boarded the Korean ships and defeated the Korean defenders. Seeing his defeat Won tried to escape from the Japanese. He was chased down, captured, and beheaded by the victorious Japanese. Out of the 133 warships only 13 warships led by an officer named Bae Sol had managed to escape the Japanese attack. Bae was able to lead the remaining ships to the safe harbor at Yoesu. The Japanese had not only effectively destroyed the Korean navy, but they had also captured the Korean naval headquarters on Hansan Island. This was a defeat that most navies could never recover from, however the fact that 13 warships escaped the Japanese would ultimately come back to haunt them.

Prior Posting: Rise of a Korean National Hero

Next Posting: The Return of Yi Sun-shin

After Admiral Yi’s first battle against the Japanese at Okpo; Yi decided to return to his base in Yoesu in order to rest his men and refit his ships. During this time he discarded his commandered fishing boats due to the completion of three of his vaunted “turtle boats”. Yi’s 24 warships and 3 turtle boats would be used to continue his campaign against the Japanese navy.

Yi’s next battle would take place on July 8, 1592 in the bay near Sanchon. The receding tide meant that the Koreans could not safely enter the harbor. Yi decided to have his ships pretend to retreat from the numerically superior Japanese ships in order to lure them out of the harbor. The Japanese ships did come out to fight and Admiral Yi immediately had his three turtle boats assault the front ranks of the Japanese armada. In ferocious battle the three turtle ships sunk 12 of the Japanese ships, but Yi was struck in the shoulder by a bullet. Yi during the battle never aknowledged being wounded because he did not want his men to lose morale during the fight. He would recover from his wound and would lead the Korean navy to many more naval victories over the Japanese.

In one battle at Tangpo Harbor Admiral Yi had caught the Japanese Admiral Kamei Korenori and his 21 ships. Yi attacked the Japanese fleet and destroyed the ships and even captured the Kamei’s flag ship. During the battle Kamei had been killed by an arrow. Inside Kamei’s ship Yi had found an elaborate captain’s quarters that featured a golden fan inscribed with Hideyoshi’s name. He also found a Korean woman that was forced to be Kamei’s mistress. The woman claimed that Kamei was about 30 years old and liked to walk around in a yellow robe with a golden crown and sat upon a throne on his flag ship as if he was a king. He was not a king like entity anymore because he was dead and Yi quickly had his body beheaded and put on display for all the Korean populace to see. Admiral’s fame continued to grow much to the dislike of his rivals.

Yi’s greatest victory during this time was when he defeated almost the entire Japanese armada at the Battle of Hansan Island. Using a semi-circular formation Yi called the “crane wing” that allowed the Korean navy to mass their firepower the navy led by Yi’s “turtle boats” sunk over 59 enemy ships. This battle was the death blow for the Japanese navy. After the Battle of Hansan Island Hideyoshi had ordered his remaining ships to avoid contact with the Korean navy at all costs. This in effect surrendered the oceans to the Koreans thus cutting off the Japanese military on the Korean mainland from resupply.

The Japanese army without naval resupply could not advance into China. For those not familiar with the topography of the Korean peninsula; it features extremely mountainous and rugged terrain which back then would have been even more difficult to navigate because of the primitive dirt roads. In addition, Admirals Yi’s destruction of the Japanese navy occurred during the same time frame as the Korean monsoon season which made the roads even more muddy and hazardous to cross thus creating the imperative need for naval resupply as the army moved north.

This locked the Japanese military into fixed locations on the peninsula and unable to move due to the lack of supplies, but they were still strong enough to remain in Korea and live off the Koreans food and resources for the time being. It is during this time that the Korean resistance movement was formed and many successful guerilla attacks were launched against the Japanese army. These guerillas became known as the “Righteous Armies”. In effect the Japanese army was now completely bogged down in a war they couldn’t win as long as the Koreans controlled the seas. On the other hand the Korean army was not strong enough to defeat the Japanese and the guerilla attacks were not enough to dislodge them just harass the Japanese, so the Koreans naturally turned to the Chinese for help.

The Ming Chinese officially entered the war at Korea’s request by crossing the Yalu River on the Chinese and North Korean border in late January of 1593. On February 10, 1593 the Ming Chinese defeated the Japanese garrisoned at Pyongyang and continued to move south. The Japanese however had plenty of fight left in them and defeated the Chinese army in a battle north of Seoul two weeks later. The Japanese were prepared to move north in pursuit of the retreating Ming troops but were pushed back to Seoul when they were counterattacked by Korean guerilla fighters. Due to the irony of war; instead of the Chinese saving the Koreans, the Koreans had instead saved the Chinese.

The Japanese still controlled Seoul and areas further south but were quickly losing power to control the country side as the “Righteous Army” continued to harrass the Japanese troop movements. One of the most famous “Righteous Army” leaders was the warrior monk Samyeong-daesa of Geonbongsa Temple that I have described before on this blog.

Ultimately the Japanese and the Chinese entered into armistice talks and the Japanese consolidated their forces to the southeastern corner of the peninsula as the talks continued for the next three years.

During this time, Admiral Yi consolidated his own forces on Hansan Island, constructed a new headquarters, and continued to build his naval power preparing for his next battle with the Japanese. However, the fleet Yi built, he would never be able to use in battle due to political scheming by his enemies in the Korean government. In a weird twist of fate, Yi’s greatest enemy was never the Japanese, but his own Korean government.

Here is an example of the rugged South Korean coastline. This picture is of the Geoje Island coastline near where Yi Sun-shin’s first battle against the Japanese took place.

Prior Posting: Prelude to War

Next Posting: The Fall of a Korean Legend

Is Korea the land of Toilet Culture?

Q:
One of my nightmares being in Korea used to be the bathroom, but over the past few years, Korean bathrooms have cleaned up remarkably. Korean bathrooms are now decorated with picture frames, plastic flowers, and even fake sounds of running water. On top of that, the toilet is equipped with a machine that warms and changes the seat cover and something else that comes with a dozen buttons. What all of sudden drove Koreans to get into such a lavish toilet culture?

The new entry is the “bidet,” which is a plumbing fixture designed for washing the external genitalia and the anus as well as the skin near these areas. Health-conscious Koreans are more than happy to follow advice from health experts, saying washing not only helps blood circulation but also prevents various ailments.

Where are these wonder toilets because I sure have never seen one of them? Here is another question, after the toilets washes you anus and groin how do you dry it? Do you have to hold up your groin to the hand dryer machine?

TIME magazine this months has a pretty good article about the Korean stem cell controversy for those who haven’t been following it very closely. TIME does try to explain why Hwang lied about his results:

But why it happened is still a mystery. By all accounts, the tales of Hwang’s dedication and personal discipline are all true.

(…)

Hwang insisted he had no interest in profiting from his discoveries; indeed, he turned over his patent rights to the university and the government.

That being the case, it seems unlikely that Hwang set out to perpetrate fraud. But it wouldn’t be surprising if he, or someone in his lab, believed strongly enough in the work to be willing to cut corners. If that’s true, the precipitating event could have come last January, when some of his stem-cell samples became contaminated, possibly by a fungus circulating in poorly shielded air vents.

Hwang claims it took six months to recover from the disaster. But it also might be that Hwang’s team couldn’t recover quickly enough and began taking shortcuts to fill the gap. Under pressure from the government and the university, and with a deadline looming for publication in one of the world’s most prestigious journals, the temptation to stretch the truth might have been irresistible. “I can only speculate that Dr. Hwang was driven by ambition. He may have thought he could manipulate the data to secure research funding and compensate for his actions with follow-up results,” says Ki Jung Kim, a political scientist at Seoul’s Yonsei University. In short, fudge it now, fix it later.

This explanation probably makes the most sense of why he committed a fraud that was bound to be uncovered. He gambled that he could get the real results before the forgery was discovered and he lost. Just makes you wonder if he wasn’t so hyped by the media and given so much money by the government in order to speed up scientific results; that maybe he would of spent the time necessary to conduct experiments ethically and more carefully so that he could have avoided the ethical violations that began the investigation and prevented the cells from becoming contaminated during the scientific process?

Here is one video game that has already been endorsed by the Beloved Leader in North Korea, so hopefully the South Korean authorities will not feel compelled to ban it here in South Korea:

Here is the latest Korea Finder. Who can name this Korean island?

The Red Devils, which is the fan club for the Korean National Soccer team for those new to Korea has released a new soccer t-shirt to replace their extremely lame 2002 “Be the Reds” shirt:

The Red Devils, the supporters club of Korea’s national football team, will release an official T-shirt to replace the unofficial one sported by fans since 2002 and secure exclusive rights to the merchandise. It hopes fans will embrace the new slogan “REDS, GO TOGETHER” instead of “Be the Reds,” which adorns the old T-shirt for which the club was unable to get copyright, making billions for makers of knock-off brands. The new shirts are copyrighted and will be exclusively sold through the casual clothing brand Basic House.

The design of the shirt is much better than the 2002 version, but I think the slogan could still use some work, but then again the shirt is not marketed towards foreigners. The slogan works well for Koreans familar with Konglish, so I’m sure the Red Devil fan club is going to make a killing on this; especially if they get everyone’s favorite soccer fan to wear one again: