VANK
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VANK or Voluntary Agency Network of Korea is a non-governmental South Korean organization made up of 16,000 volunteers, including 1,000 youth members and 5,000 foreign members.[1] It was started in 1998 by Park Ki-tae and a group of 300 young people concerned about the "distorted" image non-Koreans had of Korea.[2] In particular, VANK criticises major online websites, including the CIA World Factbook, for posting "mistakes or inappropriate expressions" about Korea, including use of the name Liancourt Rocks instead of the preferred Korean name "Dokdo".[3]
In 2005, their successful efforts to convince Google Earth to use the name "East Sea" instead of Sea of Japan in their online maps led to widespread news coverage in Japan, including a profile in the Asahi Shimbun. In response, some Japanese internet users hacked into VANK's website and destroyed several documents. [4]
[edit] Criticisms
VANK's efforts to pressure various organisations to use Korean rather than Japanese names for individuals and geographic locations, though sometimes successful, have not necessarily earned them recognition of the correctness of their positions. For instance, an About.com spokesman, relating his company's decision to use the name "East Sea" to refer to the body of water, stated that they chose to use the name "not necessarily because it agreed with the South Korean geography activists but because the e-mail bombardment was so annoying."[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Gim, Yun-deok. "글로벌 지식 쌓고 영어 실력도 쑥쑥", The Chosun Ilbo, 2007-02-26. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
- ^ Shin, Dong-heun. "VANK Acts as Nation's Internet PR Officer", The Chosun Ilbo, 2001-06-18. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
- ^ "CIA gets its Korea facts wrong", The Inquirer, London, 2006-12-13. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
- ^ "Korean Cyber Patriots Under Japanese Attack", The Chosun Ilbo, 2005-08-21. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
- ^ Scofield, David. "Northeast Asia's intra-mural mural wars", Asia Times, 2003-12-23. Retrieved on 2007-10-06.
