A Chinese-Korean alliance drove the Japanese invaders out of Korea in 1598, as I mentioned in the last post (and leading to Chinese shrines being built all over Korea at the request of the Chinese emperor). And above is one key component of that warfare. (It's only a replica, as no originals exist today.)DiAnne will be happy to know that this ship is called the Turtle Ship. Many consider it to be the first ironclad ship ever built, though it's not a full ironclad unlike the Civil War-era ironclads in 19th Century US. It's oar- and sail-powered, boasts many cannons and a ram, and the spikes on the roof prevented the Japanese sailors from boarding. It is credited with destroying the Japanese navy and ending the horrible warfare that reduced Korea's arable land to one-third of what it was before.
Note the face drawn at the bottom of the bow - it is one of the several artwork options that adorned the actual Turtle Ships in service.
The above replica is at Seoul's War Memorial, which I will not visit during my stay. I am staying away as it glorifies the McCarthyist mentality of South Korea's military, in particular the Marines whose first major accomplishment is touted as "destroying the Communist insurgency along the southern coast and Jeju Island." The so-called insurgency was actually peasants with no knowledge of Communism, rebelling against the government of President Syngman Rhee (a Korean-American favored by the US due to his anti-communism, above more qualified but left-leaning leaders who actually did more for the Korean independence) and its coddling of collaborators of the Japanese colonial rule. Rhee's war crimes rival that of Kim Il-Sung and the North Koreans during the Korean War, and I do not wish to legitimize any of that. As a result, I will not have any more pictures of this Turtle Ship.
More on the Japanese collaborators: while South Korea's government declared itself as the successor to a Shanghai-based anti-Japanese group named the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and even took over its title (大韓民國), for much of its history it was run by Japanese collaborators, including 18-year unitary executive Park Chung-Hee (AKA Masao Takaki), rather than members of the Provisional Government.
More on the Turtle Ship: Word has it that when Hyundai's CEO went to the UK to seek financing to start a shipbuilding business, he won British lenders over by showing a 500-won banknote, which depicts the Turtle Ship. He was quoted as saying "my country once built this ship. I have no problem building ships." Hyundai is one of the largest shipbuilders in the world today - and went on to also do construction and automobiles.
7 comments:
And I'll add this, re: Syngman Rhee.
There is a restaurateur in Los Angeles who runs his restaurant as a shrine to Rhee. He says he's very proud of Rhee as the founder of modern South Korea, and as his distant relative.
You know what? Kim Il-sung is my distant relative, but I am NOT proud of him. If I were to follow that restaurateur's logic, I'd have to take pride in the Juche (self-reliance) ideology as well as human rights abuses (including human experimentation) that rival Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. No thanks.
Both Kim Il-sung and Syngman Rhee ought to be remembered for what they really were - WAR CRIMINALS.
Ally McRepuke
Another Syngman Rhee fact:
South Korea credits him with the now-popular saying "United We Live, Divided We Die."
It's really a plagiarism of a common US saying "United We Stand, Divided We Fall." After all, Rhee spent the vast majority of his life in the US, and even married an Austrian-American.
Ally McRepuke
Even more on Syngman Rhee...
He was overthrown in 1960 by a popular uprising, after he rigged the polls to secure a fourth presidential term. He had served three terms and 12 years.
Eisenhower and US CIA sent a DC-4 to welcome him right back to the US. He died in exile in Honolulu 5 years later.
His Austrian-American wife, Francesca Donner, returned to Seoul afterwards, where she lived to a ripe old age, dying in 1992. Despite bad memories of Rhee, Donner was a well-loved First Lady - her blue eyes contrasting with her Korean traditional dresses were iconic.
Ally McRepuke
That is one hellova boat. They thought of everything didn't they? Down to the spikes on top. The craftsmanship though is elaborate and yet plain. It is really quite beautiful.
Woz
Thanks for your observations - I was too carried away by McCarthyist politics to actually make artistic observations.
Ally McRepuke
It really is a beautiful ship. Very deliberate and well thought out, as Woz said.
Very Neat!
I love learning history this way, it is so much more complete and surprising.
Who knew a car company built boats?
HAHA!
Christy
South Korean conglomerates (chaebol) are capable of doing lots of unrelated things. The fascists encouraged such behavior to quickly build up the economy.
They are a lot like the Japanese zaibatsu (same word, different pronunciation), but the Korean chaebol are less transparent and more family-run, leaving a lot of room for "creative accounting" and corruption. South Korea's previous leftist government jailed the CEOs of Hyundai and Daewoo for those reasons - but they've been pardoned by the current Republican puppet government.
Hyundai is only one example of a car company that also builds ships. Daewoo and Samsung also did that (though Daewoo's car division is now GM-owned, and Samsung's nascent car division was also sold to France's Renault).
Ally McRepuke
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