From Yun Dong-ju to An Jung-geun, Chinese Portal Labels Them as 'Joseonjok'

Controversy Over Baidu Romanization

It has been confirmed that An Jung-geun, following poet Yun Dong-ju, is also listed as 'Joseonjok' in Baidu Encyclopedia, China's largest portal, sparking controversy.

Professor Seo Kyung-duk: "Strong Response Needed Against China's Historical Distortion"

An Jung-geun, labeled as 'Joseonjok' on China's largest portal Baidu.
[Image source=Facebook of Seokyungduk, Professor at Sungshin Women's University]

On the 5th, Professor Seo Kyung-duk of Sungshin Women's University stated on his Facebook, "For the past few years, Baidu Encyclopedia has specified poet Yun Dong-ju's 'ethnicity' as 'Joseonjok.' Recently, while searching Baidu, I discovered that independence activist An Jung-geun's 'ethnic group' was also labeled as 'Joseonjok.'

He pointed out Baidu's consecutive mistakes in labeling the ethnicity of independence activists, saying, "This is a partial example showing how serious China's historical distortion is, and it can be seen as part of the 'Northeast Project' aimed at making Korea's representative independence activists Chinese figures."

Regarding China's recent suspension of the An Jung-geun exhibition hall and Yun Dong-ju's birthplace operation, he emphasized, "Although state media announced it as a temporary closure for internal repairs, there is no set date for reopening, and since they are distorting history not only offline but also online, I believe a strong response is necessary from now on."

Professor Seo added, "After discovering that independence activists Yun Bong-gil and Lee Bong-chang were also labeled as 'Joseonjok' on Baidu over the past few years, we continuously protested and succeeded in removing Yun Bong-gil's 'Joseonjok' label. I am confident that if we calmly and systematically prepare and respond strongly, we can sufficiently prevent such distortions instead of just being angry at China's historical falsification."

From Kimchi and Hanbok to Son Heung-min... China's Excessive 'Denial'

[Image source=Pixabay]

This is not the first time China has been involved in historical distortion controversies. Previously, in 2021, the Chinese version of the internet encyclopedia Wikipedia introduced sports stars such as Son Heung-min and Kim Yuna as Joseonjok, causing controversy. At that time, Hallyu stars like Lee Young-ae were also introduced as Joseonjok.

Additionally, China has claimed Arirang and Pansori as its own indigenous cultures, causing conflicts with Korea. They have also argued that Joseon Dynasty hanbok is the Chinese Ming Dynasty's 'hanfu,' and claimed that kimchi originated from the Chinese-style pickled vegetable 'pao cai,' which sparked criticism.

Baidu is a representative portal site in the Chinese-speaking world with over 2 billion daily users. Among them, Baidu Encyclopedia, known as the world's largest Chinese-language encyclopedia, holds over 10 million documents.

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