'Daegu, Behind Seoul in Trend' Angry Opposition Lawmaker Demands Swift Correction of UK Guidebook

Cyber Diplomacy Envoy Group 'VANK' Analysis Reveals
Assemblyman Kim Seung-su: "Government Response Worse Than Private Sector"
"Need to Establish Continuous Monitoring and Corrective Action System"

The cover of the British travel guidebook 'The Rough Guide to Korea,' which sparked controversy for containing some distorted information about Korea / Photo by Internet Community Capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] Kim Seung-soo, a member of the People Power Party, criticized the government’s response as "worse than that of private organizations" regarding inappropriate information about Korean culture and regions found in a Korean guidebook published by a British publisher.

On the 12th, Kim issued a press release stating, "There is an overflow of distorted information about the Republic of Korea in overseas publications and on the internet, but the response from government agencies remains minimal," adding, "A continuous monitoring system must be established to enable a prompt corrective action response system."

The problematic guidebook was previously analyzed on the 6th by the cyber diplomatic mission 'VANK.' According to VANK, 36 instances of disparagement and misinformation about Korea were found in the British travel guidebook The Rough Guide to Korea.

For example, on page 47 of the guidebook, incorrect information about Taekwondo is written, such as "Most Korean martial arts originated from China or Japan and were modified," "Taekwondo originated from the Chinese Tang Dynasty," and "During the Three Kingdoms period, it underwent a Korean transformation and became Korea’s most famous export and an Olympic sport."

In particular, on page 181, there are sentences that can be interpreted as regional disparagement, such as "Women living in Daegu can be seen wearing clothes that are at least several years behind those of women in Seoul," and "This is one of the clearest examples showing the old conservatism of Daegu."

Regarding this, Rep. Kim pointed out, "The issue of Daegu fashion and regional disparagement must be corrected promptly. Daegu is a city that leads fashion," and added, "It is also necessary to carefully examine the circumstances under which political phrases such as ‘old conservatism’ were included."

Meanwhile, according to multiple media reports, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized this fact through media reports and requested an accurate fact-check from a specialized agency. The ministry plans to ask the British publisher of the guidebook to correct the distorted facts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.