The original photo: “Mount Paektu Is Our Land!”
Photoshop Number One: “Koryo Is Chinese Land!”
I don’t endorse the claim for an instant, but I can’t deny some enjoyment at watching the panicky retreat from Korean nationalists’ latest classless stunt. Unlike the case with Tokdo, the Koreans have a great deal of their nationhood invested in Mount Paektu. It would be unbecoming of them to be as cowardly in any real dispute about Paekdu as they’ve been furious over Tokdo, a place that is both geographically meaningless and culturally insignificant. So when I see Chinese netizens revealing a bit too much with photoshop jobs like this one, Koreans may have reason to rethink their purposeless alienation of Japan and the United States. It’s a tough neighborhood. Maybe this will clarify the alternatives. They could always ask any North Korean woman in China for extra insight.
Or, they can just go back to ankle-biting the Japanese and Americans. Either way, this has been a fascinating social experiment.
Update: The Koreans aren’t messing around when it comes to fishing rights, however.
Update 2: In case you haven’t seen it, here’s Photoshop Number Two: “Mars Is Our Land, Too!”
I may have underestimated the Chinese sense of satire. Very bad news for the Communist Party. Satire and Communist parties have traditionally had a tense relationship. ht: Occidentalism.
