There have been many cultural disputes between Japan and South Korea before, and now, with the "Chosun Ilbo" published on the 18th entitled "A villain who is more charismatic than a hero, do you know "K (Korea) monster"? The two countries began to grab up the "monster" again.
Screenshot of the Chosun Ilbo report
According to the opening paragraph of the Chosun Ilbo article, we often think that the country that can be called the "country of monsters" is Japan, and many anime that appear in monsters, from Pokémon to Monster Watch, are produced in Japan. So there are no monsters in Korea?
The article then quoted Lee Hou-nam, a researcher of Korean classical fiction, as saying: "Absolutely not like this" and "As of now, I have found 158 kinds of monsters in 77 (Korean) classical novels." She introduced 20 of these yokai in her new book, a hitherto rare "Korean yokai legend."
Concept of a 15-meter-tall dryad with three pairs of arms (Image: Chosun Ilbo)
"Foxes, monkeys and tiger monsters that can transform into deceitful people, golden pig monsters that fly and hijack beautiful women, ginkgo monsters with 3 pairs of arms at a height of 15 meters..." The article began to "step on" after listing the so-called "K monsters", saying that Japanese yokai do not have the concept of good and evil, but "K yokai" is the obvious "embodiment of evil". The article quoted Li Hounan as saying: "We (the monsters) are not just bad and illusory beings. Rather, it was the embodiment of the desires and imaginations of people at that time. The final projection is the image of the human. ”
Concept art of the Golden Pig Monster that flew to hijack a beautiful woman (Source: Chosun Ilbo)
"Korean yokai have fatal shortcomings," the article quoted Lee Hou-nam as saying, "because of the distance from humans, living in the nest, so (Korean yokai) can not overcome the 'backward sociality' and 'lack of empathy ability'", but Korean yokai sometimes rebel against patriarchy, undisguised jealousy, etc., but show a more human side than people, because the real protagonist rarely breaks away from the framework of social norms, and the yokai often become "more attractive villains than heroes".
The Chosun Ilbo article "K Monster" quickly spread to Japan via social media, causing controversy on the Internet. Some netizens said: "These people have no self-confidence without adding 'K' to anything." ”
Another said, "Just copy Japan and add 'K' in front of it, and then advocate the origin (in Korea), that's what the gang thinks." ”
Another person said: "Coming, come out of the 'Yokai (Korean pronunciation) watch', then claim the origin (in Korea), and then accuse Japan of not copying the yokai (Korean pronunciation)." ”
Some netizens commented that South Korea's "plagiarism culture has nothing but copying Japan and China." ”
On the other hand, some Japanese netizens began to discuss the origin of "yokai", some people said that "the prototype feels like China", and some Japanese netizens boasted: "Some of the Japanese yokai legends are also from India or China, but they have been integrated into Japanese culture through the modification and adjustment of the Japanese wind." In contrast, it feels like it's all about taking Chinese culture as its own. It's a 'barren place of culture'. ”