Left Flank

Muninn has a remarkable essay on Taiwanese sentiment concerning Koreans and Korean cuisine. It's all the more pleasant a read for the fact that it ends on a distinctly positive note.

All being said, however, I was a bit surprised to find anything more
than, at worst, indifference towards Korea. Instead, I might have
expected a feeling of camaraderie for an economically successful and
culturally rich counterpart that is similarly struggling to define
itself in a challenging geopolitical environment dominated by its
larger neighbors.

This sense of camaraderie is further defined by war, in this case the Korean War, as William Stueck argues in The Korean War: An International History.

Mao could return to conditions of the prewar world, and nowhere was this more apparent than in regard to Taiwan and the offshore islands. On the eve of war, the United States showed no interest in the latter and refused to commit itself to defend the former. When the war began, the United States quickly jumped in to protect taiwan from Communist attack. When the PRC intervened in Korea, virtually all prospects disappeared that this new US policy would change for the foreseeable future
In the aftermath of war, the PRC probed Nationalist positions of the offshore islands of Jimmen and Matsu only to spark threats from Washington of nuclear retaliation and a formal US commitment to the Ntionalists to defend Taiwan.The Soviets proved of little help in this crisis. I the final unification of China was far from inevitable in June 1950, the country's indefinite division had become reality by July 1953. China's adoption of the role of mediator in Indochina in the summer of 1954 and its subsequent retreat on the offshore islands reflected the conclusion in Beijing that it could not afford another military clash with the United States-at least not if given a choice. In 1955 Chinese leaders tried the diplomatic approach by initiating «ambassadorial talks» with the United States at Geneva, but the Americans proved unbending on Taiwan. Even if we ignore the PRC's inability to eject UN forces from Korea, the new China's struggle on the peninsula had a bittersweet quality.» (pp. 364-5)

Obviously, the ironic twists of history do not make for love between peoples. And, the differences between Chinese and Japanese culture make for even more differences in the countries trying to deal with the two heavyweights' rivalry.

Jamestown Foundation calls it a "new starting point" for PRC and ROK, with diplomats shuttling already between PRC President Hu Jintao, ROK President-elect Lee Myung-bak, and Kim Jong-il. Scott Snyder lays out future bilateral relations as a contest between Seoul's efforts to keep business and trade in proportion and Beijing's efforts to "cast its shadow" over the Lee administration's relations with DPRK and Japan. But, Lee appears determined to privilege security relations with Washington and Tokyo at the expense of Beijing.

Lee's willingness to speak publicly about North Korean human rights shortcomings suggests that Lee is less likely to go out of his way to avoid offending North Korea's leaders—and for that matter raise themes that his Chinese counterpart may not find helpful. For instance, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman was pressed to respond to Lee's comments on North Korean human rights in a press conference the day after Lee Myung-bak's election. Another sensitive factor that may influence the pace and direction of developments in inter-Korean relations is that Lee's Grand National Party has never participated in inter-Korean dialogue activities organized by previous South Korean governments and was even excluded from some «non-governmental» exchanges by the North, so the official inter-Korean relationship itself will be under new management. These factors suggest the possibility that a downturn in inter-Korean relations might sidetrack progress in implementing the Six-Party Agreements, resulting in renewed tensions and renewed pressure on China to exert pressure on North Korea. Based on these concerns, China has pursued an intensive dialogue in an apparent effort to keep the new South Korean president from making a rapid shift away from the current track of engagement efforts with North Korea.

Secondly, Lee Myung-bak has clearly indicated that his top priority in foreign policy is to improve strategic relations with the United States, while efforts to improve Sino-South Korean relations will focus primarily on upgrading economic cooperation. Although Chinese Party School specialist Zhang Liangui argues that «the development of economic ties is bound to bring closer Sino-ROK political, cultural, and even military exchanges and cooperation,» Lee's top priority remains the reinvigoration of U.S.-ROK security ties (Shanghai Dongfang Zaobao, December 20, 2007).

Third, Lee Myung-bak's visible efforts to improve relations with Japan have caught Chinese attention, especially since an improved South Korea-Japan relationship may lead to strengthened trilateral coordination among the United States, Japan and South Korea (South China Morning Post, January 30). Although this sort of coordination was promoted in the late 1990s as a response to ongoing concerns about North Korea, the resurgence of bilateral textbook, territorial, and historical and political disputes between South Korea and Japan made continuation of such trilateral coordination both unstable and perhaps unsustainable. Now that the Beijing-led Six-Party Talks have been established, Chinese analysts may consider renewed U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral coordination efforts as incompatible with those talks since it may be perceived by North Korea as threatening. Such security coordination also invites concerns in China that it might be used to encircle China or to strengthen coordination in response to any potential cross-Strait crisis. Chinese scholars have unofficially discouraged South Korean counterparts from renewing such coordination even though a purely North Korea-focused precedent exists from the late 1990s. South Korea's outgoing Foreign Minister Song Min-soon has also warned that re-establishment of trilateral policy coordination might have unanticipated negative effects.

Lee's emphasis on human rights is both convenient and well-received, although, until the Roh administration is sent packing, incidents like on February 8 are still likely to be common.

South Korea returned a group of North Koreans to the communist nation after they strayed into southern waters on fishing boats earlier this month, the Defense Ministry said Saturday.

The 22 people drifted into the South off the divided peninsula's west coast in two motorless boats Feb. 8 and were repatriated later in the day because they wanted to go home, the ministry said in a statement, released amid media speculation the North Koreans attempted to defect.

The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported the weather on Feb. 8 was not bad enough for the boats to stray, suggesting the group intended to defect to the South and were returned against their wishes.

The report also noted the government did not make any public statements about the incident at the time, even though it normally does so.

Obviously, I'm elated about the prospects of improved trilateral relations between Japan, ROK, and US, especially since Six-Party negotiations offer scant hope for improvement in this year.

The purpose of retrospective film festivals is to relive old debates from a new perspective. However, when the 50 years old conflict, the Korean War is still simmering and distorting ideologies, it's hard to take a new look at a film like Mt. Sahwa. But then, there's just the long shots of what appeared to be central Busan, the harbor and beaches, and the Young-do bridge.

In an American context, where irony and parody are all but necessary even on TV sitcoms, 1969's Mt. Sahwa could actually hold its own. It's one of those movies that plays with a viewer's mind trying to figure out who the bad guy is. Unfortunately, it's soaked in ideological symbolism, but really, unless one is pacifist or communist, it's harmless now (although the Park dictatorship at the time was certainly not). I was pleasantly surprised by this film. A recent Korean movie, Brotherhood of War (Taegukgi Huinallmeo) will play a recurring role in this and the next movie review. The American films, The Guns of Navarone and The Dirty Dozen, also came to mind, because of how seven men come together with an unconventional mission.

There's some confusion in the website blurb: Kim Seung-ho's character was a father, but no father figure. When first we encounter him, his character is a drunk and a brawler, and he is recruited in spite of his almost constant intoxication. Later, we find out he killed his wife's brother during the war for bringing Kim Il-sung's brother to his house for hiding. In a manner, he is the cause of the events in the entire film, and it's unclear if he or his wife can redeem what they did after that day.  The wife, also the mother of their boy, has spent her years as a KPA officer struggling to fulfill her brother's dying wish to protect Kim Il-sung's brother and keep contact with her son whom the Communists have abducted and placed in a Busan orphanage for extortion. Even with her guilt and the extortion, she had more real power over a unit of guerrillas on Mt. Sahwa than any South Korean woman of the time. Other characters cloak themselves as criminals and lowlife, and everyone is carrying around a secret.

Mt. Sahwa is obviously pro-ROK (at one point, a son buries his father in the Taegukgi), but the South Koreans are on the side of motherhood and putting divided families separated by Communist perfidy back together. Those modern Commies just don't know what good in this world: a village in the hills with your family, and all that's traditional, like pure love between young people. Unlike Brotherhood of War, choosing the right side is important, if one wants to be Korean. And, even if you've spent years stewing on the docks in Busan or in exile in Japan, one can still earn a reunion with one's family with the help of those nice ROK soldiers (commanded by the guy in the crew disguised as a knife-fighting con man).

One could also spin an anti-war perspective, where excessive ideology and human evil trample over family life. But, Mt. Sahwa, unlike Brotherhood of War, at least does not argue that the sordid details of an unfortunate life aren't compensable, but require the dross to make the gold appear in its real form. Mt. Sahwa is a more provocative and edifying film for all its propaganda quirks.