Are the Koreas and China hostile neighbors?
Lee Kyong-hee, Editor-in-chief The Korea Herald, Asia News Network, Seoul
Whatever its ultimate purpose, Pyongyang's suspected nuclear project is keeping both Koreas trapped in tough diplomatic games with the big powers. The battles grow more embarrassing because they not only concern current and future geopolitics and security in the region, but also their remote past.
China's five-year program to study the history of its northeastern provinces is reportedly aimed at integrating a vital portion of Korea's ancient past into its national history. The controversial "Northeast Asia Project" of the Chinese Institute of Social Sciences may involve not only a single dynastic period but also damage the origin of the Korean nation fatally.
A sad irony, however, is that neither Seoul nor Pyongyang seems to be in a position to lodge a strong objection to this political assault disguised as an academic endeavor. Both the North and South have a big stake in Beijing's brokering role in the stuttering six-nation talks on how to resolve the nuclear crisis peacefully through dialogue.
Assuming that the decade-old nuclear dispute may be finally nearing a settlement, diplomatic or otherwise, China's intention behind its expensive research project seems even more menacing. Imagine that Koguryo (or Goguryeo according to the new Romanization system adopted by our government) is recognized as one of the peripheral vassal states founded by an ethnic minority group in ancient China. Korea will undoubtedly lose far more than a proud early chapter of its history.
One important reason is that the northern warrior state, founded in B.C. 37 in Manchuria by a band of archers from Puyo (or Buyeo), who were the ancestors of the present-day Koreans, moved its capital southward to Pyongyang in the fifth century. By successfully claiming Koguryo, China may hope to have a voice in the fate of the northern half of the peninsula following the possible collapse of the North.
This is why many Koreans sniff an eerie conspiracy in China's about-face to insist on its historical sovereignty over what it had acknowledged as a Korean kingdom for centuries.
With its territory once covering much of today's three northeastern Chinese provinces, where ethnic Koreans form large autonomous districts, Koguryo developed into a strong military state through continuous confrontation with China. Some 12,000 tombs and the remains of hundreds of mountain fortresses scattered around the region attest to the gallantry of Koguryo warriors who defeated the invading forces of the Sui and Tang, both powerful Chinese empires.
It is simply incredulous that the Chinese assert that the famous wars fought by Koguryo to expel the numerically overwhelming Chinese armies were internal conflicts that took place within their borders. Even more ridiculous is that China now contends that all the early Korean states based in its present territory, including Old Choson, the first kingdom established by the founding forefather of the Korean people, were part of China.
"The Chinese are apparently preparing for Korean unification that may follow the North's implosion," said So Gil-su, head of the Association of Koguryo Studies in Seoul. An economic historian at Seokyeong University, he has run the private entity for research in the history of the ancient kingdom for over a decade.
Toward the year-end, Prof. So led a group of South Korean historians on a tour to the fortresses and tombs dated to the Koguryo period around Jian, the second capital of the kingdom in southern Manchuria. The tour marked the 2,000th anniversary of the moving of the capital there by the early rulers of the kingdom. But the Chinese authorities denied them access to important historical monuments.
"We were not even allowed to enter the local museum," So said. "That was not all. We were followed around and watched by Chinese security officers."
Still, the Korean visitors could confirm that the Chinese government had been working hard to clean up the environment around the historical sites. No wonder, as Beijing has been preparing for a bout with the North Koreans in the 28th session of the World Heritage Commission, scheduled to be held in June in the southern Chinese city of Suzhou.
Both countries have applied to register scores of Koguryo tombs as UNESCO World Heritage sites. North Korea submitted 63 tombs, including 16 with murals, in 2001. China hastily followed suit and applied for registration of 39 tombs, including 13 royal and 26 aristocratic burial sites, and two fortresses last year. In the meantime, Beijing strongly opposed placing the tombs in North Korea on the World Heritage List.
Coming on the heels of the bad news from China, reports about Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's surprise visit to the Yasukuni Shrine on New Year's Day also sent a weird message.
The Japanese leader's repeated visits to the war shrine constitute psychological attacks on the Koreans, due to their historical implications. This time, his trip seemed like a more brutal offensive because it came right after Seoul lifted its last import bans on Japanese popular culture.
Koizumi apparently took advantage of the volatile situation here and of Japan's role as a major partner in the nuclear talks. It is a pity that the divided peninsula faces a double aggression from the tragic specter of history.