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A South Korean comic book has been defined as anti-Semitic in a U.S. State Department report. The book is from a series called "Distant Countries and Neighboring Countries" and is about the U.S.
In a report on contemporary global anti-semitism submitted to the U.S. Congress on Saturday, the State Department said the book "recycles various Jewish conspiracy theories, such as Jewish control of the media, Jews profiting from war, and Jews causing the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks."
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A series of cartoons in the America volume of ¡®Far Country, Neighbor Country¡¯ saying the reason Arab terrorists hate the U.S. and carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 attack is because ¡®Jews use money and public discussion as weapons to make WASPs do what they want.¡¯
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The series, written by Rhie Won-bok, a professor at Duksung Women's University, was designed to teach youngsters the history and culture of other countries in comic book format. The "best-selling" children's book series sold more than 10 million Korean-language copies, according to the report.
The report cited two examples of anti-Semitism in the book. One comic strip shows a newspaper, a magazine, a television, and a radio, each with a Star of David, and is captioned, "In a word, American public debate belongs to the Jews, and it's no exaggeration to say that [U.S. media] are the voices of the Jews."
Another strip shows a man climbing a hill and then facing a brick wall inscribed with a Star of David and a STOP sign. The caption reads, "The final obstacle [to success] is always a fortress called Jews."
The author later acknowledged his mistake and pledged to write "in a more responsible way," the report said. In March 2007, the book's publisher agreed to pull the controversial book from stores, the report added.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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