North Korea, at UN, Refers to Japanese as 'Japs'

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A North Korean diplomat set off sparks at the United Nations on Tuesday by referring repeatedly, in English, to the Japanese as ``Japs'' during a General Assembly discussion of its nuclear program.

``The Japs are now turning the whole society to the right to resurrect militarism and fascism with a view to reinvade Korea,'' Deputy U.N. Ambassador Kim Chang Guk said at one point, accusing Japan of unfairly pressuring his country over its nuclear ambitions.

snip.....

Kim said he used the term ``Japs'' because a Japanese diplomat had referred incorrectly to his country the day before. North Korea's official name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

``They used the term 'Japs.' This is a derogatory comment -- simply because we used the term 'North Korea,''' Japanese Deputy Ambassador Yoshiyuki Motomura said. ``It is a geographical concept and we have no intention of using a derogatory term in this particular sense.''

more..............

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-korea-north-japan-un.html

Will someone tell that guy that in order to be a target of invasion, his country first has to become worth taking?

One has to assume that is why the Japanese invade Korea several times in the past. Also, the most recent rape of the Korean peninsula began before WWI and continued until just after the end of WWII. The Japanese preferred to hang Korean patriots with piano wire after torturing them and raping their women.

The world's great powers in Asia have struggled for control of the strategic Korean peninsula for millenia. The Japanese, the Russians, the Chinese and Americans have all struggled to control the peninsula during the twentieth century. No nothing valuable there.

Americans wanted the tungsten in Korea and also in Vietnam. It wasn't all about Communism!

as Japan and North Kore have never really liked each other. I wouldn't be surprised to see another "missile test flight" go right over central Japan again...

I'm just suprised that NK pulled it's punches. Japan has been called far, far worse by other asian nations.

They have yet to admit to their role in the "Rape of Nanking", much less for their actions pertaining to medical experimentation in Korea and China.

the forced prostitution of Korean women when they were pressed into service as "comfort women".

see http://research.unc.edu/endeavors/win97/comfort.html

You're right, the bad blood goes back a ways.

I remember my first heart to heart with a Chinese national. Enlightening, to say the least.

Edited for spelling. Wouldn't want to piss off the Chinese. ;)

That is, if his staff lets him know about the story in the paper.

Considering all the actual stuff going on in that area, that a NK diplomat said a nasty word really isn't big time news.

Saving face is everything. 10,000 years is not too long to avenge a slight.

brings back memories of WW2. The offensive title was used to describe the Japanese a trillion times in US newsprint, posters and radio.

from the Japan TOday (sorry couldn't find a proper link).

"SEOUL — A group of citizens protested on Monday in the South Korean capital over Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara saying last week that the Korean people "chose" to be annexed by Japan in 1910."

Quick aside to Teryang: there's so much going on over here right now politically that it's next to impossible to keep up with the news. Big news though: The govt is seriously considering getting rid of the hoju-jae.

Chal jinasaeyo?

I am doing well. Always good to hear from you.

I'm so sorry those yellow devils didn't get the name of your country exactly right. Clearly it's some sort of massive slur.

(irony off)

Why are you guys defending a Stalinist dictatorship?

Japan has a bloody, evil record of colonial domination of the Korean people. It has not acknowledged and apologized for its atrocities. Why should we get our feather ruffled over "Jap" under such conditions? That goes for the South Koreans as well.

The Japanese occupation of N. China was arguably the single
most effective genocide of the twentieth century, based on
sheer numbers. It appears the Japanese government has acknowledged
some error there, however. But then pissing off China has
consequences these days ...

but no one really talks about that...