When I was young, maybe too young to care, I’ve heard from my parents that Manchuria used to belong to Korea. I used to think, ‘oh that’s cool’ and just move on. But, I came across this article and found out the real history. Essentially, a chunk Manchuria really did belong to Korea, but Japan, when it used to occupy Korea, ceded that area to China in a treaty to gain earning rights to build railroads. The United Nations declared that treaty was null and void because the treaty was a forced one. Now, China is pouring an enormous amount of money to distort the history claiming that the area which used to belong to Korea was part of China’s ancient history in their new school text books.
http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=1009
What do you think about this? And, what do you think the resolution should be?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
korea.. facing another territorial issue. maybe japan can compensate that much of their land and see how they feel. hahaha, i'm not going deep with this, cuz it's friday!!!
Korea belongs to China!
I read that Goguryeo and Balhae used to occupy much of Manchuria and eastern Russia. These northern parts seem to be much more of a brother country after all those years. I don't recall any of the maps of Joseon occupying what we call Manchuria today. And I am referring to official maps made in Korea by official cartographers during the Joseon dynasty, not maps made by foreigners who would not necessarily know the area, much less the actual geo-political concepts of the region. The subject is interesting, so if there is more information on the subject (particularly if you can dig up some of those primary sources) it would be greatly appreciated!