'Taekwon V' on Dokdo - not great idea
Artist’s concept of “Robot Taekwon V” sculpture on Dokdo
By Kim Tong-hyung
Activists here are planning to erect a massive sculpture of ``Robot Taekwon V,’’ a 1970s cartoon robot, on Dokdo, a group of islets at the center of a long-running diplomatic dispute between Korea and Japan.
The 13-meter-high installment is intended as a statement toward Japan, which continues to argue that it has historical claim over Korea’s easternmost territory.
It can be said that the nationalist activists picked an awkward cultural icon for the job. The creators of Taekwon V have openly admitted that their character, first seen in a 1976 movie, borrowed heavily from Japanese robot animation of those times, particularly ``Mazinger Z.’’
The Taekwon V sculpture will be revealed in a Liberation Day ceremony on Aug. 15, a holiday that marks Korea’s independence from Japan at the end of World War II. It will be moved the next day to a museum on the adjacent Ulleung Island, where it will be permanently displayed.
Kim Taek-gi, the artist who designed the sculpture, described Taekwon V as an ``icon of justice.’’ His wire-mesh version of the robot isn’t punching or kicking an invisible foe, but blowing a yellow trombone with an arched back.
Talking with the local media, Kim said: ``there are many ways to protect justice without guns and swords. Since Dokdo has become a `political space,’ it would be better for us to show the level of our culture to Japan.’’
Yes, with the robot that happens to be the country’s biggest ever ``homage’’ to Japanese manga.
It will take about 500 to 600 million won to complete the sculpture, which Kim expects to finish by the end of this month. The project will be financed mainly by ``crowd-sourcing’’ help from the public, with a number of corporate sponsors such as the Mister Pizza restaurant chain chipping in. The making of the sculpture will be filmed for a documentary.
Taekwon V in recent years has somehow become a symbol of Korean sovereignty over Dokdo, thanks to singer Kim Jang-hoon, an outspoken critic of Japan over the issue.
Kim, known for his concerts that resemble musical theater, used a three-dimensional (3D) video image of Taekwon V in a 2011 concert. In that short clip, Taekwon V saves Kim from monsters which have been disrupting an imaginary performance given by him on Dokdo.
It seems that the singer loves the robot more than the man who drew it in the original film. In a 2008 interview with Oh My News, an online news magazine, veteran cartoonist Kim Hyung-bae said he wouldn’t pick Taekwon V among the favorite characters he created.
``Lee Yeong-bok, a friend of director Kim Cheong-ki, who directed Robot Taekwon V, brought to me a still shot photo of an earlier version of the robot and the scenario. I worked from there,’’ Kim said in the interview.
``Back then, big, mobile robots such as Mazinger Z were trendy in Japanese manga. I have to say that Taekwon V was a me-too product of those Japanese robots, although we did give him some taekwondo moves … This is the embarrassing part of the story that has been buried by patriotism.’’
The diplomatic row over Dokdo was renewed after then-Korean president Lee Myung-bak made a surprise visit to the islets in August last year, which Japan took as a slap in the face.
It’s hard to say that Korea’s political control over the Dokdo islets has ever been in doubt. There has yet to be a report that the Korean coast guards stationed there were receiving their wages in yen.
But it seems that the activists are making the same mistake Lee did ― drumming up an issue that Korea had no reason to drum up ― and eventually stumbled onto a bad idea.