Children's drawings in the subway!, How cute.

I'm not surprised by the pictures. I do highly doubt that the pictures were encouraged by teachers or government officials though. Sure, children are easily influenced because they haven't yet formed their own opinions, they haven't done any personal research to discover their own feelings about hyped topics like this. What they do know is that their elded (grandparents) remember the atrocities of comfort women and they hear their parents exclaim over Japan denying that history and striking it from the history book. Sure, at one time Japan taught of their actions in the war and now they are doing exactly the opposite. Korea will probably never forget any of the invasions or times spent living under the rule of a more powerful nation. Korea has been invaded and controlled by China, Mongolia, Japan and even some western nations in the past. In my opinion, it's better to not forgot, but it is also your responsibility to think informedly about the past. Forgetting is not the same as accepting what happened, learning from it, becoming a stronger individual or nation, and preparing for an improved future that won't need to rely on past transgressions. When the elder Koreans die, it still won't be forgotten, it just won't be passed down as easily. Not everyone in Korea hates Japan blindly. Many people love visiting Japan, love Japanes food, love Japanese animation - but that's not all Japan is, there is a history between Korea and Japan that is not easily overlooked.

Sure, those children shouldn't have made such graphic pictures to be displayed in the subway. The parents should probably teach their children to be more open-minded. And the government should work to sooth the people and dissolve the issue. However, what westerners don't understand is that education in Korea and Japan is not like that of the west. In neither country are kids taught the skills of critical thinking, thinking for themselves, decision-making, etc. They are simply not taught these analytical skills. Tests are multiple choice, perhaps once a semester they will have one project that requires them to write and think about something individually. If you expect young kids to have these skills, it is simply not taught to them. Class sizes are too large, teachers don't take the time to create tests that require filling in the answers in complete sentences. As for the parents, discipline is left to the teachers-even for behavior outside of school. You can expect there was little reaction among the parents. The parents usually only get involved when their childs test score is the topic of discusson.

Perhaps this is more rant, than information, but as appalling as the pictures were didn't you ever watch Roadrunner or Tom and Jerry? Where do you think kids learn about such crazy violence, besides the daily news? The government and parents should certainly be more responsible in the upbringing of young Koreans and Japanese but it would also help if both countries could agree the past happened and start a bit more fresh, yet neither is willing to make any concessions to the other. Japan thinks of itself as a more well-known world power and Korea is not powerful or well-known in the UN etc. What can Korea do other than say, these islands were Korean before Japan invaded, once the occupation ended they should again have been noted as Korean assets, so today they are Korean...what more could they say to be heard and accepted?

And in the end do you care? Does the west care whose property they are? I think not, which in turn creates a more explosive situation.

You are a little late to the party. The ice-cream has already melted in the punch.

Wasn't this locked?

Hahaha, yeah that's pretty much the same thing.

Seriously though, we don't care and please shut up.

People must learn to cope with reality and understand the only way to survival is to learn from our mistakes. Hate takes you nowhere if it does, it will take you back again to the beginning. Korean must learn to forgive and move on. Just like the american indians did, like the australian aboriginies did, just like the japanese did, just like the blacks did, just like most of the races and countries did. If not they will be condemn to be judged and will likely repeat their story, someone will overrule them again.
Finally, shooting missiles to other countries is definitively not the answer. This will only cause other countries to wipe them off.

No, but I really wish it would be.

Unintentional hilarity!

When will you people learn that we just don't care anymore?

I care, it's just that it is no longer the hilarity it was a couple pages ago. Ahhhh, the good old days....

hey i know this is a pretty late post but i think you guys should know

1) what has been going on
we've been talking a lot about this in corean forums as well and most of us also agree that the violent content is inappropriate and that if there were teachers who encouraged such drawings, we do not approve of it, and it has been criticized quite deeply

2) what was going on when the posters were drawn
please try to understand.. they say these posters, were from about 2 to 3 years ago, when the issues surrounding dokdo were really hot and controversial, and also if you take a look at Corea's history, you might understand a bit more about why the elders (who the children receive much influence from) would react with such passionate anger

3) the artists? yes, they are children

4) the writer
the writer has misunderstood some of the pictures (why you aren't corean! surprise, surprise) , and certainly picks on certain pictures only

5) do you know what else is going on ?
we have our facts, figures, maps, interesting historical anecdotes, cellular connections that support our ground other than these photos, we have peaceful protests, organizations, groups and more that go along with our stance


so please, do not conclude so quickly that these pictures represent our political movements, organizations, the minds of our children and our people

on behalf of our country, I'd like to apologize for the posters and the actions of the teachers who may have supported those drawings

we will prove our claims about Dokdo in more rational justified ways with practical proof

Lock this thread already.

Attached Image