Today is Korean Liberation Day (광복절), celebrating the kicking out of the Japanese and reinstatement of a Korean nation after the colonial period. Or what we call "
V-J Day." Just for fun, here are some of the commemorative logos the portals have put up for today.
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| Daum |
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| Naver (desktop) |
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| Naver (mobile) |
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| Nate (desktop) |
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| Nate (mobile) |
This day has a partisan divide of course. Right-wingers tend to favor this day as marking the establishment of Korea, since not coincidentally the day would also be when Syngman Rhee was sworn in. Left-wingers prefer to recognize the long Shanghai "government in exile" which would mean the Korean nation continued all throughout that time "in spirit" in another place. Call me crazy but that notion somehow weakens the idea of Korean nationhood for me. So here's a money quote:
“There is obvious evidence that the country started in 1948,” said Yang. “You cannot fight over the birth date of a child, and you do not say the child is born while the mother is pregnant. It is also the same in North Korea. Their (Day of the Foundation of the Republic) is Sept. 9, 1948.”
Academics clash over ROK founding date
Of course you could argue about when the US was founded too. July 4th? British surrender? Washington sworn in? All I know is I'm happy to be liberated from work today.
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