[Letters] Stop a brazen distortion of tangible facts

In a lecture on Psy’s “Gangnam Style” at the Leaders’ Course Kookmin University held last month, I, as president of the Korean Wave Research Institute (KWRI), said that AFP article with the title “Japan indifference to ‘Gangnam Style’ riles S. Korea” does not show all the pictures. In fact, what really makes South Korea get mad is the fact that Japan always distorts the historical fact.

With its report titled “Japan’s indifference to ‘Gangnam Style’ riles S. Korea” on Oct. 23, AFP reported that Japan gave the cold shoulder to “Gangnam Style,” citing the war of nerve between Korea and Japan over territorial conflicts.

In the article, the reporter said Japan’s indifference to “Gangnam Style” may be due to the bitter territorial disputes over the contested islets of Dokdo. In addition, it reported some Koreans cast doubtful eyes on the real intention of Japanese on the fact that the song has only scraped into the top 30 of the Japanese iTunes chart.

Furthermore, some Japanese suggested that “Gangnam Style” success on YouTube might be manipulated by using the automated viewing programs. Responding to this, KWRI, a non-profit body, disclosed that the “conspiracy theories” of YouTube chart manipulation are totally preposterous and the manipulation of YouTube numbers is impossible.

The reason for Koreans’ fury at Japan comes from Japan’s habitual distortion of historical facts, including the existence of “enforced sex slaves” committed by the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II and historical facts about Dokdo. Japan has a severe chronic disease of distorting and twisting the tangible facts to its own advantage. Koreans are not angry with Japan just because “Gangnam Style” is not popular in Japan. So, I think there may be some misunderstanding in AFP’s report on it.

Japan’s argument for the possibility of YouTube manipulation was most likely caused by Japan’s sense of inferiority toward Korea’s pop music, and their outrageous argument should be viewed as a primary school kid’s jealousy and envy.

By Han Koo-hyun Director of the Korean Wave Research Institute