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A graphic file that appears to have been left by a Japanese Internet user on the homepage of the Voluntary Agency Network Korea (VANK) on Sunday. The picture describes Korea (represented by President Roh) as having been a vassal of Qing-dynasty China, then a colony of Japan, and eventually turning itself "red," i.e., communist. VANK is a non-governmental organization that promotes Korea./Provided by VANK
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A group of hypersensitive Korean netizens calling itself the Voluntary Agency Network Korea (VANK) have incurred the wrath of their equally patriotic Japanese counterparts by persuading Google Earth (earth.google.com) to change the name of the body of water between the two countries from ¡°Sea of Japan¡± to ¡°East Sea¡±.
As of 4:00 p.m. Sunday, the English version of the self-styled cyber-diplomats¡¯ homepage (www.prkorea.com/english) had been hacked and its web board swamped with messages thought to be written by Japanese people. They demand to know why the global information site decided to use ¡°East Sea¡± rather than ¡°Sea of Japan,¡± and insist Google surrendered its credibility by succumbing to radical Korean nationalists.
VANK¡¯s main menus with such names as ¡°Cyber Diplomat¡± and ¡°Diplomat Education Center¡± are down after being attacked by hackers. Since Google Earth changed the name of the sea, VANK says it became the target of attack by Internet users in Japan, where the organization became well known after being profiled in newspapers including the Asahi Shimbun. Japanese visitors flooded VANK¡¯s homepage on Saturday, paralyzing the site. Though it is undergoing a checkup, some of the documents have been destroyed.
One Japanese website (wiki.livedoor.jp/vippers1) contains detailed guidelines on how to write an English letter of protest to Google Earth, and how to attack VANK.
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The English website of cyber-patriots Voluntary Agency Network Korea (VANK) comes under attack from Japanese netizens after Google adopted the Korean name ¡°East Sea¡± for the body of water between the two countries. The pop-up window on the right reads, ¡°The world calls it Sea of Japan,¡± while the other contains invective. On the left, the image says ¡°The battle for justice has just begun!¡±/Photo provided by VANK
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¡°We must fight against VANK,¡± it exhorts Japanese patriots. ¡°We lost our sea, but this does not mean a defeat. This is only the beginning.¡± It urges Japanese Internet users to terrorize the VANK website saying Japanese culture and territory were under attack by the Korean online lobbyists.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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