My Soul Mate

[Lionpaw]

Sooo...I was browsing through random anime junk, and came upon some old unused Hetalia drawings for unused characters, in the spirit of patriotism, I googled "South Korea Hetalia"
And I got this: link 
Now, I'v never really been into Hetalia before, the plot always seemed to be on a whim and the entire concept just didn't make any sense to me, however, if this character hadn't been cut out I swear to God Hetalia would be my #1 obsession.
I mean, look at him:



I swear, this kid is my anime stunt double, both personality wise and appearance wise, take of my nerdy glasses, and this is literally what you would get.
As for personality wise, it all fits, according to the wiki it says "obsessed with video games, dramas, studying abroad, and the internet" That is literally me, plus I just adore Kimchi.



UPDATE: AFTER DOING MORE RESEARCH ON KOREA HETALIA
Ok, I seriously don't know what to think anymore, and the reason is this: 


TRANSLATION:
At a diplomacy council of South Korean Congress, a congresswoman Jeong Mi-Kyeong stated that Japanese animation Hetalia was considered to be a crime on a private level.

----translation----

A: ruling party legislator B: foreign ministry official

A: Have you ever heard a Japanese anime Hetalia?

B: Yes, I have.

A: Do you know what the anime is?

B: I've heard some media say it is insulting S.Korea.

A: Hetalia is a comedy manga in WWII-era setting in which the countries are represented by anthropomorphic characters. In this manga, the Korean character is supremely looked down. He loves the national flag of Japan and always keeps it. He depends on the US and always imitates Japan. Moreover, He calls China big brother. He always shouts "uri(our) nara(country) manse(great )". He always insists everything belong to him. He touches Japan's breast and shouts"your breast represents Dokdo!(a disputed island)". I'm worried some people mistakenly think that Koreans are looking down Dokdo ourselves. Netizens in our country have already collected 10,000 signatures in a short period of time to pull Hetalia insulting Korean race off the air. The problem is Hetalia is going to be aired on a cable TV station from the 24th of this month and Japanese children will watch this anime. This is a big problem. In my view, Japan is insulting Korea, actually, this is a diplomatic problem between Korea and Japan. Some people strongly insist that we must make Hetalia a diplomatic issue and friction, I'm sure it is important that our government should take some measures. You don't have to stir up this problem. But, Don't stay on the sidelines. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and trade(MOFAT) have to take measures against this problem in all kinds of different ways. What measures are you trying to take?

B: I'm aware of the problem, but I guess there is not much i can do because the matter is caused by a private company not by Japanese government. However, It is the fact that this manga have a bad reputation, so I'll consider what we MOFAT can do.

A: I think this is a crime against Koreans. In other word, in person to person relations, isn't this problem the same as a crime, a contempt? Then this is a illegal and insulting act. We have to force them to understand those points. "the problem is not related to Japanese government, so MOFAT is not related to it." This is not a good atitude. I think Korean citizens have to prepare to draft a law against this problem. I know there are limits to what you can do. It is important to consider what we should do about this problem on a private level.


UPDATE #2:

God I'm getting more and more confused the deeper I dig


 

[Moonshine]

I'm a huge fan of Hetalia myself, *pulls Japan and Russia over*, and in a nutshell S. Korea isn't in the anime simply because the people of S. Korea found him offensive. I can understand kind of their reason, since Korea and Japan aren't the biggest fans of each other, but Hetalia actually takes time to make fun of all countries. True some *cough* America *cough*, countries are made fun of a little more than others, but that's what makes it so funny. What it comes down to is really a matter of politics. Still S. Korea will always live on in the manga! ^_^

[Littlefox]

Oct 7, 2014 19:37:45 GMT -6 Lionpaw said:

Now, I'v never really been into Hetalia before, the plot always seemed to be on a whim and the entire concept just didn't make any sense to me

i still dont understand how someone can be confused by hetalia

[Cloverstar]

Oh, boy. Speaking as a Korean-American, I have a lot to say about this. Sit down, son, 'cause we about to have a HISTORY LESSON. 
If you want to get to the point, skip to the Tl;dr at the bottom.

Ahem.

In 1910, the Empire of Japan (simplified as Imperial Japan) invaded Korea. It annexed it, made it its own colony, and it stayed that way until 1945. Yes, Korea was under Japan's rule for over thirty years and was liberated when Japanese forces withdrew after losing WWII. This is why the Korean Independence Day, known as Liberation Day in Korea, is August 15, the date that Japan's occupation ended.

While ruling Korea, Japan performed acts such as:

-Assassinating Empress Myeongseong, the beloved queen who had actively tried to stop their efforts to invade. 
-Doing their best to completely erase Korean culture. Koreans were forced to cut their hair, change their names to Japanese ones, their children were taught to learn Japanese, speak Japanese, and live and act like Japanese people. 
-Taking and exploiting Korean resources.
-Censoring Korean-owned newspapers.
-Taking thousands of Korean artifacts (over thirty-four thousand, to be exact) and relocating them to Japan.
-Destroying villages and massacring and raping citizens who hid resistance fighters or otherwise protested.
-Sending thousands of men to Japan as forced laborers and making thousands of women ranging from their teens to their middle ages sex slaves to the Japanese military (known as "comfort women").

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. While there may (read: may) have been some benefits that came out of the occupation, such as more attention to general education and economical advancement, none of them make up for how nightmarish those times were. It doesn't help that right after that, Korea was occupied again by other countries and forcibly split up, and then the Korean War happened, but that's another story.

The real kicker to all of this is that afterwards, the Japanese government refused to actually acknowledge their crimes for years. It says something that they still have to apologize for what happened in the past and pay reparations, such as returning the artifacts. In any case, they never fully admitted how wrong they were, and they still aren't.

That is why Korea in general has such strained relations with Japan. That is why the subject of the Japanese occupation is so touchy in both countries. That is why Koreans were so offended by South Korea's portrayal in Hetalia. It wasn't because of the character himself, it was because his relationship shown with Japan seriously touched on nerves. They didn't find it funny because South Korea was portrayed as the instigator and harasser of Japan, when it was really the other way around, during World War II, the time the anime/manga was being set and, therefore, the time that Japan was still occupying Korea.

Tl;dr: Japan invaded and occupied Korea for thirty-five years, from 1910 to 1945. During the occupation, Japan committed crimes to the Korean population such as attempted cultural genocide, censorship, oppression, theft of cultural artifacts, forced labor, rape, and massacres. When Japan withdrew, they never fully apologized or made reparations for their crimes, and Korea is still bitter about how they basically got off scot-free. 

So obviously, when Koreans see Hetalia, an anime based off of a manga set during World War II made by a Japanese man, where its portrayal of Korea is shown as harassing Japan, the country that was occupying it in real life during that time, they're not going to be very happy.

In conclusion, banning Korea wasn't because of making fun of countries in general. It was because of making fun of Korea and Japan's relationship during a time when Japan was oppressing Korea. 

The more you know.

[Dustpetal]

That was literally the most interesting history lesson I've ever read and I had no idea that Japan had committed so many crimes against South Korea.

And for those of you who don't know, Koi is a 1st-generation American. Her entire family is from Korea and she's definitely more than knowledgeable about Korean relations with other countries.

I know this isn't totally on topic, but it's also important to realize that a lot of the events are downplayed. Japan committed TERRIBLE atrocities to wartime criminals during World War II.

It encouraged its citizens to commit suicide by claiming American soldiers would rape and murder them (which is ironically what the Japanese did to others during wars, so it was believable)... I read an article written by a boy who, since he was the oldest son, killed his mother and sister by crushing their heads under a rock after their island was overcome. He was found by American soldiers before he could off his brother and himself, as well, and was totally shocked at American compassion. Since, y'know, the Japanese were less than kind to their own prisoners of war.

Meanwhile there's the infamous Rape of Nanking which I shouldn't have to explain, and comfort women were a very common reality-- even for native Japanese women, who were told they were going to factories to help with the war effort. They were often raped repeatedly. You can find some really heartbreaking accounts of it online.

Hetalia is an awesome anime and I love it, and I actually used to think the Korean reaction was utterly ridiculous so I honestly see where you're coming from, but especially for a country like Korea where there has been direct oppression and horrendous crimes against innocent people, it would not be taken the same way.

Imagine you were Native American and all the crimes/attempted indoctrination of Native American children ended back in 1945 and now there's an anime where a Native American is running around harassing white people in a comedic documentation of that time period.

On that note, the author of Attack on Titan is also very anti-Korea. There's still Japanese hostility against Koreans and it's really awful. It's going to be a close and touchy subject and it's good that Japan backed down.

[Yunan]

@dan

i also have heard about him (hajime isayama) being anti-korea, but i always figured it was a tweet taken out of context and had his words twisted around, but i wouldn't be surprised lol

gosh dangit, isayama