After similar criticism recently about a Rommel Hof (German-style beer house) in Mokpo, I'm beginning to think that some folks are starting to sound like the thought police.If some Korean decides to name his "German-style bar" (which is what Koreans think of a "hof" as) after a famous and respected German military officer, he's bashed for praising "an infamous Nazi SS officer" and his business establishment "added... to the list of Nazi-themed establishments in Korea." Even though he was not a Nazi, an SS officer, or infamous (except in the minds of people who knee-jerkedly associate him with Nazis).
Now, when some other business owner takes a well-known American symbol, something positive, associated with high-tech, and even uplifting (in that he or she is honoring fallen heroes), he/she is derided ("epic fail"?) because that symbol met a fiery end?
I have to ask: What are the rules for what names people can choose to use for their establishments? Because I'm a native English speaker and I certainly can't figure them out. Rommel is not Hitler, and the Challenger is not the... just what the heck is wrong with Challenger?Is anything involving a dead famous person out? Should we go tell all the places named Columbia Language Institute to pick something else, and put the Discovery chain on notice that if — God forbid! — that spaceship should go the way of the Challenger and the Columbia then we're going to picket them?
Is Alamo Rent-a-Car somehow an "epic fail" for their choice of names? What if a Korean businessman or woman, fond of his/her time in New York, were to honor fallen Americans by naming their hamburger shop in Suwon "WTC," then should they be hounded?
Really, what are the rules and where do we draw the line? I'm definitely going to go pull this one out the next time someone in the K-blogosphere goes on about "overly sensitive Koreans."
I see this as interesting, not outrageous. And like Zonath at Marmot's Hole, I see it perhaps as a way of honoring the people who died.
Maybe folks down in South Chŏlla should start a consulting firm where you approve or reject any and all business names that are not originally in Korean. I suggest the name Minitrue. Such an enterprise could help you make an extra buck, though it would reduce the number of outrageous things for the blogosphere to comment on.
UPDATE:
Here's a link to a Time Asia story from 2000 on actual Nazi-themed bars in Seoul.
Remember that Korea is a country where a pet shop owner caved in to a Korean government "request" to take down an image of Tiananmen Gate with Mao's mug replaced by that of a fluffy white pooch.
ReplyDeleteGiven the zealousness with which some Korean organizations scrutinize every word of foreign history textbooks and examine maps with magnifying glasses, there is a bit of comeupance in foreign nationals evaluating the accuracy and appropriateness of Korean depictions of people, places, and events foreign.
Sonagi wrote:
ReplyDeleteRemember that Korea is a country where a pet shop owner caved in to a Korean government "request" to take down an image of Tiananmen Gate with Mao's mug replaced by that of a fluffy white pooch.
In Korea, disrespect to a leader can be a game changer in the equation. I first encountered this years ago (Kim Daejung administration) when I had written a fairly long piece about something related to US policy of some kind.
A higher-up returned it to me telling me my language was inappropriately disrespectful. Why? Because I'd kept referring to the president as "Clinton" this and "Clinton" that. Once I'd affixed "Bill" or "Mr" or "President" to each and every utterance, it was okay.
Given the zealousness with which some Korean organizations scrutinize every word of foreign history textbooks and examine maps with magnifying glasses, there is a bit of comeupance in foreign nationals evaluating the accuracy and appropriateness of Korean depictions of people, places, and events foreign.
And here's where I call bullocks. Here we have the essence of the expat-in-Korea's schadenfreude: Some Korean(s) did some bad stuff to me, so I'm justified in doing bad stuff to other Koreans.
You can see that in the FTA opposition (Gillian is a prime example) but just about everywhere else.
Is the Challenger PC-bang responsible for the actions of VANK? Does he/she even agree with VANK? I'd be willing to be that the owner of a shop who puts a well-known and positive American symbol — with "USA" right on it — is not one of these leftist types who thinks the US is the source or most of Korea's woes over the past century.
And if VANK is wrong for going over stuff with a fine-toothed comb, isn't it equally bad to do the same in kind?
If this attitude is some sort of comeuppance from the peanut gallery, it is replete with hypocrisy.
Indeed, my complaint is that Brian and especially some members of the peanut gallery were being quite VANKish — offended by someone with the audacity to use a symbol related to their country in a way that differs from their narrowly defined ideas of how it should be used.
Oh, and I'm not defending the government's position on the Mao thing, just trying to provide some perspective on it.
ReplyDeleteI don't like Seoul kowtowing to Beijing on anything these days, especially when the Roh crew was so hellbent on bending over. But I can see why, in an Asian context, it would be diplomatically embarrassing for a well-known case like that to exist where another country's former leader and one of its greatest icons is being associated with dogs.
Unlike VANK and Korean netizens, who actually use cyberterrorism to harass foreign individuals and organizations, Brian and other expat bloggers and commenters merely complained about it. They didn't stand outside the building and picket nor call for a boycott. In other words, no harm has been done to the innocent owner of the Challenger cafe.
ReplyDeleteUnlike VANK and Korean netizens, who actually use cyberterrorism to harass foreign individuals and organizations, Brian and other expat bloggers and commenters merely complained about it. They didn't stand outside the building and picket nor call for a boycott. In other words, no harm has been done to the innocent owner of the Challenger cafe.
ReplyDeleteTrue, they don't picket and they don't cause violence, though depending on how Brian's readership reacts, there may be some form of harassment. Brian rightfully says he is annoyed, not outraged, but some of the comments on his blog and at The Marmot's Hole aren't quite so calm.
Anyway, this laser-like attention on Korea's WWII Germany fetish seems to be taking on a life of its own. I have seen first-hand such things in Japan, but they were not blogged or highlighted. If you Google "Nazi bars" you get a preponderance of Korea-related links, even though this is a fairly evenly widespread issue in Japan and Taiwan. Particularly when no context is given, this serves to do damage.
I'm getting off on the Nazi topic a bit too much here, but this really does seem to underscore the difference between many of the expats in Korea and their counterparts in Japan. In Japan the gaijin are routinely subject to things that expats in Korea would scream bloody murder over — the biggest of them the rampant "no foreigners" discrimination in housing — yet you hardly hear a peep out of the Curzons of Japan's gaijindom.
Anyway, I stand by my characterization of this being VANKish: It is a group that has their own narrowly defined sensitivities that is using the Internet to impose that view on reasonable people who might not share it. Let's not kid ourselves: blogs exist not just to rant but also to get the word out.
"I have seen first-hand such things in Japan, but they were not blogged or highlighted."
ReplyDelete"I'm getting off on the Nazi topic a bit too much here, but this really does seem to underscore the difference between many of the expats in Korea and their counterparts in Japan. In Japan the gaijin are routinely subject to things that expats in Korea would scream bloody murder over — the biggest of them the rampant "no foreigners" discrimination in housing — yet you hardly hear a peep out of the Curzons of Japan's gaijindom.
"
I quit reading Japan Probe regularly awhile ago, and I don't care to search their archives to see if any Nazi stories were done, but I do recall reading blog posts and comments critical of Japan. Debito is a vocal, active critic of Japan. He not only writes about discrimination; he organizes boycotts and contacts the media and government officials. I don't think there's a single Debito among naturalized Koreans of foreign ancestry.
I basicaly agree with Brain's criticism, I think it's rather careless and even oppenssive to Jews to use such a name for his hof.
ReplyDeleteProbably, korean education should put more emphasis on teaching Nazi's war crimes, so have their studenst be more aware of it.
and as a kind of off topci, I'd like to point out some tendencies in some K-bloggers. while they think jews are rightly entitled to feel bad seeing those Nazi related names are used in korea, If korea shows similar response toward careless, ignornt comments by japanese politicains, many of expats say all the time 'korean is too blindly nationalistic, overreacting..etc etc, using doublestandards. It make me feel sick somehow.
Sonagi wrote:
ReplyDeleteI quit reading Japan Probe regularly awhile ago, and I don't care to search their archives to see if any Nazi stories were done, but I do recall reading blog posts and comments critical of Japan. Debito is a vocal, active critic of Japan.
Yes, and and I would certainly not call Debito one of "the Curzons of Japan's gaijindom." Curzon himself says this about Debito:
The funny thing is that Debito and I have often disagreed on… well, almost everything. I love what he does but disagree with his methods.
He not only writes about discrimination; he organizes boycotts and contacts the media and government officials. I don't think there's a single Debito among naturalized Koreans of foreign ancestry.
Leaving aside, for a moment, the discussion of whether Debito, a naturalized Japanese, should even be considered part of "Japan's gaijindom," the two situations are not entirely the same.
Korea, for all the griping and bitching the oegugin do in Korea, does not have the kind of systemic and widespread housing discrimination that Japan does. Furthermore, Korean officialdom has been making great strides on its own to get rid of the exclusionary and discriminatory practices faced by foreign nationals, though there is still considerable work to be done in this area.
At any rate, there have been a few naturalized Koreans who, though their love of Korea clearly dominates, take to ribbing it in print. Gary Rector comes to mind.
Also, as long as naturalized Korean citizens have to give up their former citizenship while being at the mercy of, say, the US government to give the citizenship-renouncing former American a visa to return, there have not been terribly many Westerners willing to take on ROK citizenship. We might start seeing more critics among the non-Western immigrants who have taken on ROK citizenship.