Scholars submit letter of protests to Chinese leader over Trump's controversial remark

Shim Baek-kang, president of the Research Institute of Korean Studies, third from right, and former Agriculture Minister Huh Shin-haeng, center, pose in Sajik Park, central Seoul, Tuesday, ahead of sending a letter of protest to Chinese President Xi Jinping. / Courtesy of Shim Baek-kang

By Lee Kyung-min

A group of scholars submitted a letter of protest to the Chinese embassy in Seoul, Tuesday, following a recent controversial remark made by U.S. President Donald Trump that “Korea used to be a part of China,” quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping, it said Wednesday.

In the letter, the group comprised of noted historians, professors and lawmakers demanded Chinese leader Xi answer questions on Korea’s almost 10,000-year existence referenced to in both Chinese and Korean history books.

“The Chinese government has consistently dismissed its organized efforts to annex the history of Korea to China as part of the nationalist history project under the Chinese Communist Party for a couple of decades,” the group said in a statement.

“However, such a denial proved to be only a deceitful ploy evidenced by the U.S. President’s remark. We will not tolerate or stand idly by such a provocation against the sovereignty of Korea,” it added.

The questions include whether Xi would agree with characterization of China having been part of Korea, referenced by Chinese history books written prior to the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

In those books, according to the group, Beijing was part of Gojoseon and Goguryeo, the ancient kingdoms of Korea.

The questions in detail will be released in Chinese and in English, Saturday and next week, respectively.

The protest was in response to a remark by Trump during an interview with the Wall Street Journal on April 12, held a week after the summit between the U.S. and China. After the controversy erupted, the Wall Street Journal posted the full script of the interview.

Trump said, according to the excerpts, “He (Xi) then went into the history of China and Korea. Not North Korea, Korea. And you know, you’re talking about thousands of years …and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China.”

Despite the possibility of mistranslation considering that they both used interpreters, his remark was seen as ignorant by many Koreans, triggering outrage at the carelessness of the U.S. leader.

The group said rather than criticizing Trump, public outrage should be directed at the Chinese leader for making the remarks at all.

“Trump probably repeated what he heard through the interpreters,” said Shim Baek-kang, the president of the Research Institute of Korean Studies.

“He wouldn’t have otherwise thought of such an idea. Therefore, we should ask how Xi was able to tell such a story with a politically charged agenda,” he added.

According to historians, he added, the country name “Korea” is derived from “Goguryeo,” the original kingdom that is believed to have formed as a political entity as early as the 1st century B.C.

Goguryeo once encompassed what is now Manchuria and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.