Via the blogger formerly known as Marmot, China ordered the removal of a recently erected statue of a Korean who assassinated a Japanese leader on Chinese soil.:

The Dong-A Ilbo reports that Chinese authorities ordered the removal of a statue of Korean independence activist (or terrorist, depending on your point of view) Ahn Jung-geun 10 days after it was erected near Harbin Station. Harbin Station, of course, is where Ahn, also known by his Catholic name of Thomas, popped a cap into former Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi in 1909.

The 4.5-meter-tall statue of Ahn was unveiled on Jan. 16 in a square along Harbin’s central Zhongyang Avenue, some 200~300 meters away from the spot of the assassination. At the foot of the statue is Ahn’s hand-print (minus, of course, a digit), so that the statue could be recognized from long off. The monument was erected by an Ahn Jung-geun remembrance association and a Korean businessman identified by his family name of Lee.

As it would turn out, Lee had gotten permission from the Harbin city authorities to put up the statue in the square, which is in front of a department store in which Lee was investing heavily.

Beijing saw matters differently, however, and not long after the statue was unveiled, the central government ordered that it be covered up and then moved inside the department store. “Statues of foreigners are not permitted,” explained Beijing.

And in Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian has ordered the removal of statutes of Chiang Kai-shek from military bases.:

The graven image of the venerable Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek will no longer greet you as you report for mandatory military service. President Chen has decided that the statues of Chiang which grace all of Taiwan’s military 100+ bases will be brought down and stored at an undisclosed location. According to one KMT Party mouthpiece (i.e., The China Post), this is like the destructive dismantling of traditional cultural icons that took place in China during the Great Proletarian Revolution (1966-76). Just as monuments to Confucius were scrapped, so too will images of Chiang, our "Eternal Leader," be tossed on the fire.

Technorati Tags: asia, china, korea, northeast asia, taiwan, japan

Now is the time at AsiaPundit when we dance.

This somehow reminds AsiaPundit of the Sugarcubes, only that Japanese is a touch more comprehensible than Icelandic.

(Via Panda Passport.)

AsiaPundit had long been aware that many popular cartoons are animated in North Korea. But he thanks Angry Chinese Blogger for the reminder.:

Even North Korea has advanced beyond China in terms animation, having both a strong domestic market and an established Animation ‘finishing’ industry that uses modern techniques and equipment rarely found in China.

Though not widely advertised, North Korea’s SEK Studio produced many of the ‘in between’ cells for Disney’s “The Lion King” and “Pocahontas”. Both of which are believed to have been managed by outsourced companies in Europe/Asia, due to America’s trade sanctions against the communist state,

From a 2002 Asia Times item.:

North Korea never ceases to surprise, even to amaze. Nor is it in all aspects quite so cut off from global trends as we tend to think. True, not a lot that Pyongyang produces is of a quality to be readily salable worldwide. Among the better known exceptions are missiles. Among the less well known are cartoons.

What’s more, you’ve seen them. So cunning is this axis of evil, it’s even infiltrated Hollywood. Yup, we’re talking Disney. Pocahontas? The Lion King? Both of these used North Korean animation skills: presumably on a subcontracting basis, as otherwise they’d fall foul of the Trading with the Enemy Act. Europe has no such restrictions, so French and Italian producers have been getting cartoons made in Pyongyang since the mid-1980s. Recent titles include an Italian Hercules, and France’s Billy the Cat.

Technorati Tags: asia, korea, northeast asia

Andy at the Flying Yangban alerts AsiaPundit to a post condemning South Korean imperialism.:

“Today’s anti-war, anti-occupation demo in Seoul, one of hundreds that were held around the world this weekend, in the biggest show of force from the world’s second superpower(tm) in a long time. The march in Seoul was similar to those around all over the world in calling for an end to occupation and calling for no attack on Iran. More specifically it called for the withdrawal of the so-called Zaytun Division of Korean soldiers stationed near Irbil in northern Iraq. In true Orwellian style the troop division is named with the Arabic word meaning olive - a reference to the olive branch of peace. Surely the Arabic word for imperialism would be more appropriate.”

Kotaji is exactly right, the neofascist Korean warmongers have conquered northern Iraq for their own insidious imperialistic purposes. I have the proof in pictures:

Look closely and you might detect the subtle mark of Korea’s insidious imperialism. This poor girl has become a cog in the Korean war machine.

Technorati Tags: asia, northeast asia, korea, puppy

Via Virtual China, a map of places where you should be careful in Hangzhou:

Chinastic reports on an emerging map of places where pickpockets hang out in the southern Chinese city of Hangzhou.  It was originally posted on a site called “My E-City”, (我的E都市) which claims to be the world’s first “online 3D urban simulation.” The site allows users to view, navigate, and add information to online maps of several Chinese cities.

AsiaPundit could have used one of these in Nanjing, where his mobile phone was lifted over the weekend.

Technorati Tags: asia, china