Dispute Over History a Sour Note: "Korea Should Go All Out To Correct China's Historical Distortion"
President Roh Moo-hyun (left), who was in Helsinki to attend ASEM 6, met Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China on Sept. 10, 2006, for bilateral talks.
The long-standing dispute over history between Korea and China resurfaced upon revelation that China's state-run research center posted a blueprint of its controversial geo-historical project that allegedly invaded Korea's history. China has recently published four books and several articles, claiming that the Goguryo (Koguryo) (37 B.C.-668 A.D.) and Balhae (Palhae) (698-926) kingdoms, which occupied today's northern part of the Korean Peninsula and the northeastern region of China, were part of ancient China. Under the project, "Northeastern Project," introduced in 2002, Chinese historians claim that not only Gojoseon (Kochoson) but also Goguryo, Baekje (Paekje) (18 B.C.-A.D. 660) and Balhae are part of China's history, according to South Korean researchers. A public uproar erupted recently in South Korea when it was announced that Beijing-funded research conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) argued that Korea's Balhae was a vassal state of China. Balhae is seen as a successor state to Goguryo and part of Korean history. President Roh Moo-hyun on Sept. 10, 2006, expressed regrets to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao over Beijing's history research program that claims part of Korea's ancient history as its own. Roh made the remarks at a meeting with Wen on the sidelines of the sixth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in the Finnish capital, Helsinki. In a one-on-one meeting with the Chinese premier, Roh said that the research could affect bilateral ties significantly. "Even if the research is carried out only for academic purposes, it could have negative repercussions on the bilateral relations," the Cheong Wa Dae spokesman, Yoon Tai-young quoted Roh as saying. Roh asked the premier to take proper steps on the matter in accordance with the previous agreement calling for China to stop the distortion of Korean ancient history. "We respect the bilateral agreement," Wen replied to Roh, according to the spokesman. "It is an academic issue, but we instructed the researchers not to cause any negative implications to the bilateral ties. We will take further necessary measures." The South Korean government pledged on September 6 to take appropriate diplomatic steps to cope with China's attempts to distort Korea's history. "The government has maintained a clear and firm stance not to tolerate any foreign countries' attempt to distort our history or invade our territory," said the government spokesman. "Beijing's move to distort ancient history won't be an exception." The Korean government believes that China's move could seriously hurt the identity of the Korean people and that both diplomatic and scholastic measures may be called upon. In 2004, Seoul launched a research institute comprising officials and scholars to dig into facts to prove Goguryo's existence. Seoul and Beijing agreed verbally to avoid the ancient history matter in 2004, after a Chinese scholar claimed the Goguryo kingdom was part of Chinese history. When it became a red-hot issue in 2004, China's vice foreign minister visited Seoul in August of that year and verbally agreed with his South Korean counterpart not to compromise the relations by making history a political issue.
The governing and opposition parties were all out to criticize Beijing's attempt to distort the past history between Korea and China. The rare joint action came after China's recently publishing of a series of books and articles as part of its "Northeastern Project," claiming that the ancient history of Korea was originated from mainland China. "Beijing's continuing distortion of history is no longer tolerable," said Rep. Woo Sang-ho, spokesman of the governing Uri Party. "China has seriously harmed the identity of South Koreans." He called on the South Korean government to take stern diplomatic measures to prevent any further similar distortion of history by China. "It seems the cooperative relationship between the two countries will face a big stumbling block unless China stops following Japan's wrong practice of distorting history," he added. Rep. Na Kyung-won, spokeswoman of the largest opposition Grand National Party (GNP), also claimed the Roh Moo-hyun administration should take responsibility for its diplomatic failure to deter the repetitive distortion of history by neighboring countries. "The Roh administration should have paid more attention to the history dispute instead of being obsessed with the wartime operational control issue," she said. "Roh has stressed to improve the nation's selfdefense capabilities by taking the wartime command over South Korean troops back from the United States, but has neglected what is more important." Kim Jae-doo, spokesman of the minor opposition Democratic Party (DP), also denounced Beijing's move as a malicious attempt to steal Korea's 5,000-year history and the nation's pride. The Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee of the Korean National Assembly strongly denounced Seoul's lowkey attitude and called for systematic measures that can properly address China's distortion of history. In a resolution unanimously adopted during ad hoc session on September 7, the Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee said, "It cannot accept the research results purely as a scholastic product," saying China is intensifying distortion of Korean history despite the 2004 agreement. It also said that China's efforts to register Mt. Baekdu as part of UNESCO's natural heritage and to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games near the mountain, which Koreans consider as a sacred place, are designed to damage Koreans' spirit and the territorial integrity. Floor leaders of the governing and opposition parties, on September 8, agreed to cooperate to address China's distortion of history. The five parties also decided to fully support a resolution unanimously proposed by a National Assembly panel. In the committee, they said, "The controversial research results of the CASS are not purely a scholastic product, but the Chinese government's intention to claim ancient Korean kingdoms originated in mainland China."
China is seriously challenging Japan's reputation as Asia's champion for revising historical and territorial truths. A state think tank in Beijing recently carried more than a dozen historical theses on its Web page claiming almost all of Korea's ancient history as part of China's. They went as far as to say the land north of Han River originally belonged to China, halving Korea's history and all but wiping out its national identity. Should we Koreans get angry or laugh? Beijing is saying in effect all that has happened in current Chinese territory is China's history. We can understand Beijing's anxiety toward separatist sentiments in Tibet, Uigur and Inner Mongolia, but this is outrageous. It should find other ways to soothe popular complaints about its long, authoritarian one-party rule. Beijing's moves appear aimed at blocking possible Korean claims to Manchuria after reunification or preemptying North Korea in case of the isolationist regime's abrupt collapse. Chinese researchers have also said their nation's history is older than it really is. Most of the world accepts that China's history dates back to the 16th Century B.C., but many Chinese historians say their civilization began in about 12,000 B.C. It is understandable for each country to try to make its history look long and spectacular. "For China, the answer has long been obvious," the Washington Post reported in September 2004. "Their culture, they have been taught, radiated far and wide over the centuries, embracing great historical events, ranging from Genghis Khan's empire to the invention of spaghetti and meatballs." The Chinese project is mainly designed to deal with territorial issues, rather than history, given that it covers not only the northern part of the Korean Peninsula but also those internationally disputed border areas, including the eastern part of Turkestan, the northern part of Vietnam and the waters between China and Japan. "Over the last 150 years, as China suffered from foreign occupation, civil war and extremist ideology, modern advances largely passed the country by," the newspaper reported. "Only in recent years has China begun to regain its role in the world. But for most Chinese, the idea of their culture as a source of past greatness and future strength has never faded." Seeking political and economic cooperation with neighbors is important but not at the expense of our country's history and identity. Korea should go all out to correct China's historical distortion or at least prevent further manipulation. It first ought to protest Beijing's reneging on a five-point verbal agreement made in 2004 not to raise further historical disputes, and reconfirm the accord in a document. Seoul should take a more balanced approach to rectifying Tokyo and Beijing's historical distortions.
Koreans proudly say the country has a history of 5,000 years as its first kingdom, Gojoseon (Kochoson), was established in 2333 B.C. That ancient kingdom has been considered Korea's origin and many elementary schools here have statues of Dangun, Korea's legendary founding father. Koreans learn in school that Gojoseon was established by Dangun 5,000 years ago in the northeastern part of current China in the basin of the Daedong River now in North Korea. The ancient kingdom's name is distinguished from the later Joseon (Choson) kingdom (1392-1910) by starting with "Go," meaning "old" or "ancient." The specific year of Gojoseon's founding is analogized from a line in "Samkukyusa," a historic record written by a Buddhist priest of the Goryo kingdom (918-1392), which says the ancient kingdom was established in the year of Yao's enthronement in China. Goguryo was founded in 37 B.C. and collapsed in 668, while Goryo (Koryo) started in 918 and fell in 1392. Even though it had a 250-year gap, Goryo was the successor kingdom of Goguryo. The history dates back to 993 when troops of the Liao Dynasty invaded Goryo whose capital was located in Gaeseong (Kaesong), now in North Korea. Gaeseong was called Gaegyong (Kaesong capital) at that time. The name "Goryo" is one of the most distinctive factors to testify it is the successor kingdom of Goguryo. Wang Gon (877-943), the founding king of Goryo, decided his kingdom's name was Koryo to signify that his new kingdom succeeded that of Goguryo, which had perished some 250 years earlier, historians said. The founder of Goryo also drove a "Northward Policy" to recover the old territory of King Dongmyong and set Pyongyang, the old capital of Goguryo, as another capital of his kingdom. The capital was called "Sogyong" (western capital), according to historic records. One of the most delicate problems with the ancient Korean Kingdom of Balhae is there are few formal and authoritative historical records about the kingdom, which has caused historians to assume different views about the kingdom. Debates boil down to two key issues: how much sovereign independence Balhae enjoyed from China's Tang Dynasty (618- 907) and what was the ethnic background of the Balhae people. For example, a monument describing Balhae's relations with Tang set up by the Chinese government near Mt. Baekdu claims that Balhae was one of the provinces of Tang. Part of the monument reads in red letters, "Balhae, which was one province of Tang Dynasty, used this road to send a tribute to Tang." This reflects the most important rationale of China's claim to Balhae because Chinese historians think the tribute-investiture relationship takes place within one nation. In short, the Chinese side considers the independence of Balhae was not strong enough to be sovereign. "The Chinese argument that Balhae was not independent enough is based on the fact that a tribute-investiture relationship existed between Balhae and Tang," said a history professor. "They claim Balhae kings were invested with the title of governorgeneral of the province of Tang." Korean history textbooks say that rulers of Balhae were Malgal people while the subjects were displaced people from Korea's ancient kingdom of Goguryo. So the question is whether Balhae belongs to the Goguryo or Malgal people. Generally, Korea maintains that Balhae was a kingdom of displaced Goguryo people. Some Korean and Japanese scholars argue that the ruling class consisted of Goguryo people who ruled the Malgal tribes. So the consensus is that Balhae is a successor of Goguryo in both territory and inhabitants, historians said, adding that it does not make sense the Malgals suddenly replaced all the Goguryo people in former Goguryo territory or that they suddenly increased to outnumber the indigenous Goguryo people.
China's attempt to distort history has been criticized not only by the world but also by Chinese people. Former Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai said that Balhae belonged to Korea and apologized over China's chauvinism when he met with North Korean scholars in 1963. "History must not be distorted. It is absurd to say that the western part of the Tumen River and the Yalu River were Chinese territory," the former Chinese premier said. "This error came from historians, and we must fix this error." A single torch lit at the top of Mt. Baekdu - the Korean Peninsula's highest mountain, erected near the North Korean Chinese border - angered South Koreans earlier this month. The torch was lit for the Sixth Winter Asian Games to be held in Changchun, China from January 28 to February 4 in 2007. The host city's mayor said that the mountain was chosen as the torch flaming site on September 6 because three rivers - Tuman, Amrok and Songhua - originate there. Tuman and Amrok rivers are also known as Tumen and Yalu in Chinese. Not many South Koreans, however, see the move merely as part of the athletic event. Many see it as the Chinese government's sly move to promote the mountain, which Koreans regard as a sacred place, as its very own. Under an agreement struck in 1962, China and North Korea, two sovereign states and U.N. members, agreed to share the mountain. The North controls 54.5% of the mountain, and China occupies the remaining 45.5%. The report enraged many South Koreans, who have already been upset by China's moves to put the 2,744-meter mountain on the UNESCO's "World Geopark" list and similar efforts by Beijing to register it with the U.N. agency as a "World Heritage" site. Dubbed the "Mt. Baekdu Project," China's actions are believed by many South Koreans to be part of the "Northeast Project." Many Koreans view the project as an attempt to distort ancient Korean history in the northeastern territory of what is now China, including the Goguryo Kingdom and the Balhae Kingdom. The South Korean government needs to remind the Korean people that China's misinterpretation of history is no less serious than Japan's attempt to whitewash its wartime past.¡Ú
