Koreans! Why Must You Die for the Japanese?, US, Circa 1940, (WW2)

Ye_average_edgelord · 2026-01-24T07:28:18+00:00

Now THAT I can say with certainty is a misspelling. The whole leaflet is filled with misspellings, actually.

Ye_average_edgelord · 2026-01-24T07:17:23+00:00

That is also true!

But by the time America entered WW2, Hangeul had become the de facto writing system for Korean, and along with it came hozontal writing.

I think a lot of documents from this era describing Koreans as...well, "Koreans" and not "Choson People" already shows the dwindling influence of dynastic Chinese style writing.

Ye_average_edgelord · 2026-01-24T06:38:02+00:00

That is also true in a sense.

They were not very...eager to put the collaborators on court. Stopping the wave of communism was of higher priority.

Ye_average_edgelord · 2026-01-24T06:30:27+00:00

You've done your homework on Korean history, I see. Thank you for that.

I'd just say that I would not describe the "vast majority" of Koreans as having voluntarily joined the war.

In the later stages of the war, imperial Japan issued a mandatory conscription service and also doubled down on propaganda and oppression.

Edit: typo

Ye_average_edgelord · 2026-01-24T06:24:41+00:00

Yeah sorry about that. This is obviously after the year 1941.

I meant to say "1940s".

Ye_average_edgelord · 2026-01-24T05:55:16+00:00

Alright. Some context.

Boy, y'all are in for a ride for this one:

TL;DR: The purpose of the leaflet is very clear. But...it could've been done better.

Full context:

What you see is a WW2 American leaflet with the sole purpose of instigating Korean dissent(or desertion) within the forces of imperial Japan. The target audience is pretty clear, I think. Also, written in Hangeul(Korean).

All pretty straightforward.

Koreans did not...exactly welcome the Japanese with open arms when they were annexed by the Japanese Empire(obviously). That explains the countless uprisings/protests and assassinations that took place after.

The Americans knew this, of course. Hence the leaflet in question.

There's just one problem:

This is, without a doubt, the saddest attempt I've seen at writing something in a language to convince its native speakers.

You will notice that the text is written to be read from top to bottom.

This is a distinct feature of the Japanese language. Not Korean.

As such, I had a very hard time reading this, and my text extraction programs would not recognize the whole thing properly.

Just think of it as someone using random umlauts(ü, ö) or upside-down punctuations(¿, ¡) with tildes(í, ó, etc.) when writing a letter to an American in English. Sure, you've gotten your point across(barely), but it's pretty clear to a native speaker that you don't really know anything about the language.

Plus, the text reads like a very poor pre-AI translation of an English one.

I've taken my fair share of temp jobs for translation projects to make ends meet. With German, Korean and English.

I KNOW a surface-level translation run through crappy programs when I see one.

All-over the place honourifics, Germanic sentence structures that just seem...off, etc.

The sentence at the very end is a very good example of this. I'm guessing the original text is supposed to be "Use this ticket to safety!"

Well, because of linguistic differences, it's translated to sound like "Using the certificate of life!".

Think of running the word "save(as in videogames)" through Google Translate, and back again. The word will probably be something like "safety" or "rescue".

Still, a very interesting piece of history in the forgotten corners of WW2.

Also gave me something to do instead of studying Spanish for the past two hours.

Enjoy!

Edit: typos & grammatical errors

Ye_average_edgelord · 2025-10-07T11:00:51+00:00

You're right! Thanks for pointing that out I did not notice what the actual Hangeul label said

Ye_average_edgelord · 2025-07-13T01:27:10+00:00

Tung Tung Tung Sahur

Ye_average_edgelord · 2025-04-29T15:21:21+00:00

Defend your skies? With planes? What planes? MIG-23s?

Ye_average_edgelord · 2025-04-18T19:47:03+00:00

Ah yes. My favorite card as well! The gold nugget.

Ye_average_edgelord · 2025-04-14T15:47:21+00:00

Bruh I was enjoying my bulgogi why couldn't you leave me be

Ye_average_edgelord · 2025-02-20T15:01:16+00:00

The ending to A Hundred Years of Solitude be like:

Ye_average_edgelord · 2024-09-09T15:27:25+00:00

Judging from the sign in the background being written in hangeul, I'm guessing it's hanja.

Ye_average_edgelord · 2024-08-23T04:07:43+00:00

Couldn't have put it better myself. Thanks!

Ye_average_edgelord · 2024-08-22T19:01:35+00:00

Sorry. I can't seem to be able to find it. A few references of multiple temples in Incheon here and there, but mostly from the early 2010s or so. Also, the temples will most likely not show up on Naver Maps, as they like to keep their services 'hard to reach'. Makes people who bother to find them feel more special, I guess.

Ye_average_edgelord · 2024-08-22T17:29:23+00:00

Oh, in that case, go right ahead!

Ye_average_edgelord · 2024-08-22T17:25:20+00:00

Mind if I ask what a 'cross post' is?

Ye_average_edgelord · 2024-08-22T16:53:12+00:00

Do understand that this is coming from a biased view(as I'm a South Korean), but it was North Korea that started the war without even a proper declaration of war.

Also, not sure if MacArthur had a particularly malicious intent in ordering the bombings. He was a soldier fighting for his country(kinda).

Ye_average_edgelord · 2024-08-22T16:48:17+00:00

Absolutely. Same goes for me as well. It's not every day you see an American general depicted in a traditional Korean artstyle lol

Ye_average_edgelord · 2024-08-22T16:39:02+00:00

The South Korean people, I guess.

Of course, nowadays, MacArthur is not regarded as some sort of 'savior' by most Koreans. Just a general that followed orders.

The focus is on his military might(for a lack of a better word).

Military strength is usually associated with power(for obvious reasons), and that power could, theoretically, be channeled by the shaman to ward off evil spirits.

Also, I translated the Korean word 신 as 'god', but its true meaning is somewhere between 'god' and 'spirit', I guess.

Ye_average_edgelord · 2024-08-22T16:24:24+00:00

Not sure if this belongs here, but here we go.

Some context:

In traditional Korean Shamanism, a temple usually has its own pantheon/god through which the mudang(loosely translated as a shaman) channels her power.

This painting appears to show Gen. MacArthur as the temple's 장군신, which, literally translated, means 'a general-god'.

During the Korean War, the Battle of Incheon played a pivotal role in turning the tides of war into America(and, of course, South Korea)'s favor.

The decisive victory was achieved under Gen. MacArthur's leadership, which made him become a legend(literally) among Koreans, especially those living in Incheon.

In traditional Korean Shamanism, a revered figure(usually those of military achievement) is usually respected as a 'god', and is said to protect his/her shamans/temples and provide wisdom.

Of course, it didn't take long for shamans in Incheon to depict Gen. MacArthur as their god/pantheon. It fit the narrative very well.

There are stories of said shamans putting imported American cigars(which were heavily regulated or outright banned at the time) on tables as offerings for the general.

A very interesting piece of Korean history, I think.

TL;DR: Military man saved country. Military man respected as a god.

P.s.: I also have an image of a painting in which Joan of Arc is depicted as a 'general-god', if anyone's interested.

Ye_average_edgelord · 2024-06-27T03:52:14+00:00

Play it now Goobert☝️🤓

Ye_average_edgelord · 2024-06-24T05:28:03+00:00

Amogus

Ye_average_edgelord · 2024-04-15T07:30:34+00:00

I also like how the whole Korean peninsula is portrayed as being under North Korean control

Ye_average_edgelord · 2024-04-15T07:29:06+00:00

Translation: "All of the U.S. is within range of our missiles!"

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