An age old territorial dispute between Japan and Korea spills over into cyber-space as Google opts to call the set of islets between the two countries by its Korean name. Korean netizens were quick to defend Google, while criticizing Japan.
From Yonhap News:
Google’s dubbing of Dokdo as being in the Ulleung County is unacceptable, says Japan
The Japanese Government criticized Google’s mapping service as unacceptable for describing the location of the Dokdo [islets] as being part of the ‘Ulleung County‘, saying that they requested them to modify [the description] many times.
According to the Kyodo news agency, in response to internet search engine giant Google’s ‘Google Maps’ mapping service’s decription that Dokdo is located in the ‘Ulleung’ province, the Japanese Cabinet council determined on the 16th that this was ‘not acceptable’.
The Japanese Government asserted that ‘because this (Google’s description) might mislead viewers into thinking Takeshima (Japanese name for Dokdo) is Korean territory, in light of our country’s position, we deem it is unacceptable.’
This was an official government response to the ‘questions’ posed by Sata Masahisa, a councillor with the Liberal Democratic Party.
Kyodo News conveyed that ‘searching for the Japanese word ‘Takeshima’ in Google Maps yields no results, but when you search for ‘Dokdo’ in either Korean or English characters, it comes up, specifying it is Korean territory.’
In the meanwhile, the Japanese Consulate-General to the United States stationed in New York protested over Korea’s e-commerce site Gmarket’s publication two weeks ago (on Korea’s Independence Movement day, March 1st) of a Dokdo related advert in the New York Times.
The Japanese Consulate-General said that ‘the New York Times replied that in the future they won’t print misleading advertising.’
The Gmarket advert promoted the island as being Korean, located in the East Sea, while asking the reader how good it would be to go visit the stunning island in the summer.
Comments from Nate:
김남호:
Can you Japs just stop all this bollocks…
김유섭:
Don’t you Japanese have the proverb that says ‘A lie told 100 times eventually becomes the truth’? Aren’t you practicing what you preach? By continuously lying by insisting Dokdo is your land, you make yourself believe in your own lie just like disillusioned children.
김종률:
Daemado is our territory. Compared to Japan, Daemado is not only closer to our country but is also home to gravestones from the independence movement. We’ve called for them to give it back. Guys, Daemado is our soil.
Comments from Daum:
최선을 다하자:
Stop whining about Dokdo –– whine about Lee Myung-Bak instead.
나데시코:
Google used to be a good company…
생각좀해라:
Dokdo should obviously be recorded on Google Maps as Korean soil.
eric:
There is no need to feel pity for a country like Japan…are you guys [the Japanese] making a decent living? At first, with the tragedy of a tsunami, Edo [ancient name of Tokyo] disappeared~~!!!! Those bastards’ way of thinking stopped there and then…Mount Fuji…BOOM!!
absinthe:
And the man at the head of our government said we must ‘hold back’ [referring to the comments President Lee made 4 years ago at the G8 summit in relation to the Japanese textbook controversy]. Twat.
콤퓨터나랑:
Ahh a big earthquake will eventually hit Japan…Whenever Dokdo comes up, an earthquake has occured. What a pity.
가을이야기:
Why is the monkey clan [referring to the Japanese] being like this ke ke ke~~
black:
They say Tokyo will be hit by another earthquake greater than 7.0 on the Richter Scale within the next ten years, but I’d say the sooner the better…really…
레인:
Today’s [tension] would surely get a 7.0 on the Richter Scale.
카오루님:
We shouldn’t recognise those Japanese monkeys as human.
쵸코릿:
Please think carefully why your country gets hit by massive earthquakes and A-bombs. I think I know why Japan gets hit by earthquakes…
순수성규:
We shouldn’t be accepting the Japanese as human.
음악인:
Come and take it if you dare!
때밀이:
Scrupulous cunts…
