VANK

VANK or Voluntary Agency Network of Korea is a non-governmental South Korean organization made up of 16,000 volunteers, including 1,000 youth members and 5,000 foreign members. [cite news|publisher=The Chosun Ilbo|date=2007-02-26|accessdate=2007-10-06|url=http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2007/02/26/2007022600974.html|title=글로벌 지식 쌓고 영어 실력도 쑥쑥|last=Gim|first=Yun-deok] It was started in 1998 by Park Ki-tae and a group of 300 young people concerned about the "distorted" image non-Koreans had of Korea. [cite news|publisher=The Chosun Ilbo|date=2001-06-18|accessdate=2007-10-06|title=VANK Acts as Nation's Internet PR Officer|last=Shin|first=Dong-heun|url=http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200106/200106180181.html] In particular, VANK criticises major online websites, including the CIA World Factbook, for posting "mistakes or inappropriate expressions" about Korea, including use of the name Liancourt Rocks instead of the preferred Korean name "Dokdo". [cite news|url=http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2006/12/13/cia-gets-its-korean-facts-wrong|title=CIA gets its Korea facts wrong|publisher=The Inquirer, London|date=2006-12-13|accessdate=2007-10-06]

In 2005, their successful efforts to convince Google Earth to use the name "East Sea" instead of Sea of Japan in their online maps led to widespread news coverage in Japan, including a profile in the Asahi Shimbun. In response, some Japanese internet users hacked into VANK's website and destroyed several documents. [cite news|url=http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200508/200508210001.html|publisher=The Chosun Ilbo|date=2005-08-21|accessdate=2007-10-06|title=Korean Cyber Patriots Under Japanese Attack]

Criticism

VANK's efforts to pressure various organisations to use Korean rather than Japanese names for individuals and geographic locations, though sometimes successful, have not necessarily earned them recognition of the correctness of their positions. For instance, an About.com spokesman, relating his company's decision to use the name "East Sea" to refer to the body of water, stated that they chose to use the name "not necessarily because it agreed with the South Korean geography activists but because the e-mail bombardment was so annoying." [cite news|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/EL23Dg01.html|publisher=Asia Times|title=Northeast Asia's intra-mural mural wars|last=Scofield|first=David|date=2003-12-23|accessdate=2007-10-06]

References

ee also

* Korean nationalism

External links

* [http://www.prkorea.com/ Official webpage]