Christina Kim suing Joongang Ilbo

LoJo · 03-13-2009, 08:35 PM

Hmmm....all very interesting. Back about 5 years ago, Christina played in a Korea vs. Japan LPGA event...playing for Korea, as a Korean team member.

I can't recall the name of the "cup" or the details (perhaps someone else on here can), but it was controversial at the time since she isn't, in fact, Korean. Maybe they had loose standards of citizenship.

Seems like this latest stuff is a pissing contest.

Whistling Straight · 03-13-2009, 08:51 PM

Magazine 2004 Pinx Cup

Whistling Straight · 03-13-2009, 08:56 PM

S Korea, Japan to kick off annual women's golf competition -- china.org.cn

LoJo · 03-13-2009, 09:16 PM

Originally Posted by Whistling Straight

Magazine 2004 Pinx Cup

Thanks for the link, Whistling. That's the event I was thinking of....Pinx Cup.

As stated on page two of the article, Xtina got grilled then by the press at the time.

However, I was surprised to read the comment about "could barely speak Korean"...hmmm. Surely, she is fairly fluent in Korean growing up with two Korean parents.

Whatever...I'm sure she would have loved to drop a coupla F bombs their way.

Whistling Straight · 03-13-2009, 09:26 PM

Good stuff LoJo, thanks for the lead. Makes me believe if there was an appearance fee and whether or not allegience to the flag was compromised. I hope Christina didn't compromise her integrity because she is one of my favorite golfers on tour.

Blue · 03-13-2009, 09:32 PM

Originally Posted by RainMan

One of the definitions for vindicate is to get revenge for. A vindictive person is one who seeks revenge.

When translated to Korean, vindication and vengeance may end up as the same word. Taken in context with her entire statment, I would say that her meaning was accurately translated if they used a word that carried an implication of revenge.

Maybe C. Kim just used the wrong word (twice) and meant something like validate.

Your're right. She probably meant vindicate herself -- like prove herself. It was taken to mean get back at them, which is a big difference.

BrianD · 03-13-2009, 09:42 PM

Sorry for the confusion, then; the comments appear at the bottom of the original post I made, but perhaps the gap between my words and the commentors weren't clear.

Nationalism is indeed important in Korea. That can be both a good and a bad thing, but suffice it to say here Koreans are very proud of their country in the sports world. Golf is one of the few sports where Koreans have dominated, hence the quickness to latch onto Kim as one of their own.

It is a pissing contest, as somebody just said. As I wrote in my post, you'll see Koreans claim Korean-Americans like Hines Ward and Toby Dawson as their own. The former is, as you probably know, a half-Korean who even the Korean media has admitted wouldn't have amounted to anything in Korea. The latter is a skiier whose family abandoned him in a Seoul market when he was a kid, and who was eventually adopted and brought to the US.

Koreans are also keen to assert themselves on the global stage. Even though they're one of the most successful and developed economies in the world, few people ever pay attention to them. It doesn't help that they're stuck between two of their rivals, China and Japan. Nearly every day you'll read a column in the paper about some aspect of Korea's "unique" culture, because they fear so greatly being overrun culturally---politically, too---by their neighbors. So that's why they're always so eager to have foreigners gush over their food, rave over their clothes, and generally praise Korean culture. Whether it's celebrities like Wie, Serena Williams, or Paris Hilton they wrap in Korean clothes, or ordinary people like me and ma-and-pa tourist who they film eating kimchi, there is an interesting dual inferiority-superiority complex going on. Many consider their culture the greatest, but nobody outside of Korea seems to notice.

That's why I included several excerpts of articles about kimchi and "kimchi power." Yes, the Korean women were all joking about it, or at least about it's power (although the newspapers always rave about its properties, including its power to prevent SARS). Although you have the "uniquely Korean" food of kimchi, and what looks to them as the unique talent of Korean female golfers, and it's easy to find the common thread to be Korean-ness. Hell, that's why I included that last column---whose opinions are not THAT uncommon---about how Korean women are good golfers because their ancestors made kimchi with their hands.

Michelle Wie played into her Korean-ness when she came to Korea. It was the most natural thing to do, since because she looks Korean, and is ethnically Korean . . . well, then she's Korean. Doesn't matter if she trained exclusively in the US, or benefited exclusively from what the US had to offer, she's Korean. Likewise many attributed Hines Ward's success not to his athletic ability or to him playing in the US, but rather to his (Korean) mother's hard work. She's a remarkable woman, it's true, but . . . still. I was in Korea during Wie's father's comments, and I don't know if they even registered back home, but I think the media back there would have been right to call her out on those comments. Just as Koreans get pissed when Christina Kim is perceived to abandon her Korean-ness, so should Americans get angry when Wie throws the US under the bus. And that's the reason I talked about both golfers the way I did . . . their situations are so similar, yet the media reaction so different.

Sorry for the long, sometimes disorganized post. You're right that I don't follow golf (mostly because I'm terrible at it), but I do take an interest in Korea and in what goes on in the Korean media.

BrianD · 03-13-2009, 09:52 PM

Oh, and regarding the lawsuit, she's right to be pissed off at the paper. In Korea there are strict libel and defamation laws: you can't write something bad about someone, even if it's true, if it damages their reputation. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Kim was misquoted or misrepresented, or even if the paper made up random stuff about her. Hopefully readers are a little more discerning than the writers.

Whistling Straight · 03-13-2009, 10:11 PM

Brian, thank you very much for your post and your perspective. You have some very thought-provoking viewpoints but I think we're struggling with your self-admitting disorganized presentation. I encourage your continued participation in this forum and urge your continued contributions concerning the Asian explosion on the LPGA tour. You will find very passionate people here but I sense no more passionate than what your comments have been so far.

greentee · 03-14-2009, 02:13 AM

.
So the world is communicating, now we need to get to know one another better.

Thanks BrianB - interesting and informative and perceptive as usual. I like the Koreans, different though they be from me. :-)

CK's suit, is there a date for court?

03-13-2009, 09:16 PM	#14
LoJo Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: The Golf Course Posts: 2,217 Images: 1	Originally Posted by Whistling Straight Magazine 2004 Pinx Cup Thanks for the link, Whistling. That's the event I was thinking of....Pinx Cup. As stated on page two of the article, Xtina got grilled then by the press at the time. However, I was surprised to read the comment about "could barely speak Korean"...hmmm. Surely, she is fairly fluent in Korean growing up with two Korean parents. Whatever...I'm sure she would have loved to drop a coupla F bombs their way.

03-13-2009, 09:32 PM	#16
Blue Forum Moderator Contests: Joint 3rd place overall winner 2009. Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 7,650 Images: 6	Originally Posted by RainMan One of the definitions for vindicate is to get revenge for. A vindictive person is one who seeks revenge. When translated to Korean, vindication and vengeance may end up as the same word. Taken in context with her entire statment, I would say that her meaning was accurately translated if they used a word that carried an implication of revenge. Maybe C. Kim just used the wrong word (twice) and meant something like validate. Your're right. She probably meant vindicate herself -- like prove herself. It was taken to mean get back at them, which is a big difference.

03-14-2009, 02:13 AM	#20
greentee Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada Posts: 1,484 Images: 4	. So the world is communicating, now we need to get to know one another better. Thanks BrianB - interesting and informative and perceptive as usual. I like the Koreans, different though they be from me. :-) CK's suit, is there a date for court? __________________ ... I am not a tree, I am a tee... hit me, ah... wait a minute...

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03-13-2009, 08:35 PM	#11
LoJo Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: The Golf Course Posts: 2,217 Images: 1	Hmmm....all very interesting. Back about 5 years ago, Christina played in a Korea vs. Japan LPGA event...playing for Korea, as a Korean team member. I can't recall the name of the "cup" or the details (perhaps someone else on here can), but it was controversial at the time since she isn't, in fact, Korean. Maybe they had loose standards of citizenship. Seems like this latest stuff is a pissing contest.

03-13-2009, 08:51 PM	#12
Whistling Straight Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 450	Magazine 2004 Pinx Cup

03-13-2009, 08:56 PM	#13
Whistling Straight Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 450	S Korea, Japan to kick off annual women's golf competition -- china.org.cn

03-13-2009, 09:26 PM	#15
Whistling Straight Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 450	Good stuff LoJo, thanks for the lead. Makes me believe if there was an appearance fee and whether or not allegience to the flag was compromised. I hope Christina didn't compromise her integrity because she is one of my favorite golfers on tour.

03-13-2009, 09:42 PM	#17
BrianD Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5	Sorry for the confusion, then; the comments appear at the bottom of the original post I made, but perhaps the gap between my words and the commentors weren't clear. Nationalism is indeed important in Korea. That can be both a good and a bad thing, but suffice it to say here Koreans are very proud of their country in the sports world. Golf is one of the few sports where Koreans have dominated, hence the quickness to latch onto Kim as one of their own. It is a pissing contest, as somebody just said. As I wrote in my post, you'll see Koreans claim Korean-Americans like Hines Ward and Toby Dawson as their own. The former is, as you probably know, a half-Korean who even the Korean media has admitted wouldn't have amounted to anything in Korea. The latter is a skiier whose family abandoned him in a Seoul market when he was a kid, and who was eventually adopted and brought to the US. Koreans are also keen to assert themselves on the global stage. Even though they're one of the most successful and developed economies in the world, few people ever pay attention to them. It doesn't help that they're stuck between two of their rivals, China and Japan. Nearly every day you'll read a column in the paper about some aspect of Korea's "unique" culture, because they fear so greatly being overrun culturally---politically, too---by their neighbors. So that's why they're always so eager to have foreigners gush over their food, rave over their clothes, and generally praise Korean culture. Whether it's celebrities like Wie, Serena Williams, or Paris Hilton they wrap in Korean clothes, or ordinary people like me and ma-and-pa tourist who they film eating kimchi, there is an interesting dual inferiority-superiority complex going on. Many consider their culture the greatest, but nobody outside of Korea seems to notice. That's why I included several excerpts of articles about kimchi and "kimchi power." Yes, the Korean women were all joking about it, or at least about it's power (although the newspapers always rave about its properties, including its power to prevent SARS). Although you have the "uniquely Korean" food of kimchi, and what looks to them as the unique talent of Korean female golfers, and it's easy to find the common thread to be Korean-ness. Hell, that's why I included that last column---whose opinions are not THAT uncommon---about how Korean women are good golfers because their ancestors made kimchi with their hands. Michelle Wie played into her Korean-ness when she came to Korea. It was the most natural thing to do, since because she looks Korean, and is ethnically Korean . . . well, then she's Korean. Doesn't matter if she trained exclusively in the US, or benefited exclusively from what the US had to offer, she's Korean. Likewise many attributed Hines Ward's success not to his athletic ability or to him playing in the US, but rather to his (Korean) mother's hard work. She's a remarkable woman, it's true, but . . . still. I was in Korea during Wie's father's comments, and I don't know if they even registered back home, but I think the media back there would have been right to call her out on those comments. Just as Koreans get pissed when Christina Kim is perceived to abandon her Korean-ness, so should Americans get angry when Wie throws the US under the bus. And that's the reason I talked about both golfers the way I did . . . their situations are so similar, yet the media reaction so different. Sorry for the long, sometimes disorganized post. You're right that I don't follow golf (mostly because I'm terrible at it), but I do take an interest in Korea and in what goes on in the Korean media.

03-13-2009, 09:52 PM	#18
BrianD Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5	Oh, and regarding the lawsuit, she's right to be pissed off at the paper. In Korea there are strict libel and defamation laws: you can't write something bad about someone, even if it's true, if it damages their reputation. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Kim was misquoted or misrepresented, or even if the paper made up random stuff about her. Hopefully readers are a little more discerning than the writers.

03-13-2009, 10:11 PM	#19
Whistling Straight Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 450	Brian, thank you very much for your post and your perspective. You have some very thought-provoking viewpoints but I think we're struggling with your self-admitting disorganized presentation. I encourage your continued participation in this forum and urge your continued contributions concerning the Asian explosion on the LPGA tour. You will find very passionate people here but I sense no more passionate than what your comments have been so far.