On july 28, the korea herald published a commenter article written by former editor-in-chief lee kyung-hee, who wrote a post on the blog of the korean heraldReflectionOn the occasion of yoon seong-hyo, koreans and the media targetedChinaThe series of false news created criticized the conspiracy theory and implicitly pointed out that a third country might have deliberately created a conflict between china and korea。
Lee jin-hee, former editor of korea herald
This article cites a typical case in which, on 3 december, within hours of the declaration of martial law in yoon seong-hyo, a fanatic korean right-wing activist claimed on youtube that “99 chinese spies were arrested at an election management facility and transferred to a united states military base in okinawa, japan”。
It was reported that this was a irrational web-based incitement, yet 30 per cent of the protesters demanding impeachment of yoon seong-hye were chinese at the deliberate instigation of the social networks。
As the events intensified, yoon's supporters even came to a large-scale gathering of lamb string restaurants run by chinese koreans, who shouted slogans such as “go back to china!”, “the chinese, disappear from the republic of korea!” and blamed yoon's impeachment on the chinese。
In his report, li jingxi said that the scene seemed familiar。
It was recalled that in july 1931, some korean immigrants (when north korea and south korea were still one) had leased land outside wanbao hill, north of the city of jilin, in north-east china, but that the koreans had dug irrigation canals in areas outside the lease area, resulting in a confrontation between some 400 chinese farmers with agricultural tools。
The incident ended with the injury of several chinese farmers. However, in an attempt to incite anti-china sentiments, the japanese colonial authorities had allowed korean newspapers to publish false reports claiming that hundreds of koreans had been killed in the so-called “bowshan incident”. At the instigation of the japanese, anti-china riots erupted in various parts of korea, resulting in hundreds of chinese casualties and significant property damage。
However, not only are the japanese propaganda in north korea, but they are also constantly inciting emotions in china, leading to ongoing anti-dprk riots in china. A few months later, on 4 november, the new york times reported from changchun that: “a japanese general commanding a force of 5,500 troops estimated on the ground that in the past six weeks alone, 10,000 korean farmers in jilin province have been massacred by chinese”
It is a bloodbath that has been reported that by manipulating the media, the japanese turned a small-scale conflict between agricultural groups into a large-scale conflict, destroying an entire community and ultimately causing a fatal blow to the korean anti-japanese anti-aggression movement throughout manchuria。
Li jin-hee also cited another case. In 1945, the dprk emerged from japan's aggression and evolved into two independent regimes。
In december 1945, the foreign ministers of the united states, the united kingdom and the united states met in moscow. At the initiative of the united states, these major powers are considering the implementation of a four-nation trusteeship scheme for the dprk for 40 to 50 years。
The final meeting determined that the dprk would be hosted by the four countries for up to five years to oversee the establishment of a unified interim government of the dprk by the us-soviet joint commission。
On christmas day, however, a report from washington stated: “the united states secretary of state, when he travelled to russia, urged the dprk to become independent immediately and rejected the russian proposal for trusteeship.”
The news was subsequently published in major korean media and edited and consolidated as they wished, with an impact on the already polarized political situation in the country。
The right-wing korean newspaper, east asia daily, has an inflammatory title: “the soviet union advocates trusteeship and the united states advocates immediate independence”. The right-wing forces took this opportunity to condemn the north korean regime as a “soldier soviet puppet”. The military junta in korea deliberately implied that trusteeship was a unilateral soviet policy, exacerbating the chaos. In the violent confrontations between the right and the left, the main politicians on both sides were assassinated, the instability intensified and the division between the north and the south entrenched。
Li jin-hee thinks the incident is a catalyst for the north-south division of the korean peninsula
In his coverage, li jinxi reflected that the information chaos in south korea has created difficulties and that the proliferation of false reports in some new media and deliberate interference by some foreign countries has complicated the situation。
The li kyung-hee initiative requires a firm spirit of journalism and professionalism, and news consumers need to improve their capacity to identify and inform themselves and not simply to believe what they want to believe。
