Korea Dispatch

There’s a mini-propaganda war going on between Chinese and Korean netizens as rumors and allegations fly across the blogosphere, with the latest bout revolvoing around rumors that Michael Phelps descends from Koreans who arrived in North America over a thousand years ago. The “Korean blood that flows in his veins,” goes the rumor, is what helped him make Olympic history.

As per an article in the Chosun Ilbo

This story is a contribution to Baidu by an editor identified as Chen Jing, and edited by [Internet protal] Dongbeiwang. Some Chinese media apparently aim to spread a negative image of Koreans as a people who shamelessly distort history, thus indirectly lending credence to Chinese attempts to co-opt early Korean history, commentators say.

So basically the author is saying that the rumor about Phelps was generated by a Chinese editor whose real aim was to distort history by making it seem as if Koreans actually distort history. The reference at the end is about China’s North East Asia Project, which seeks to incorporate a significant chapter of Korea’s history into its own.

Now Phelps may (or may not) be a Korean, but Korean archers definitely have their ancestors to thank for their “sensitive fingertips,” which allow Koreans to excel at “feeling games,” and drives them to fight until the bitter end. That fighting spirit failed to win over Chinese fans at the Olympic games, however, who were reportedly cheering for any team facing off against Korea, including Japan.

It’s interesting that all this goes on as China and Korea work to upgrade their strategic partnership, with Chinese President Hu Jintao, during a two-day visit to Seoul following the close of the Games, referring to positive conditions — shared culture and geography (but not history) — that are conducive to closer bilateral relations.