The Basques descend from the Koreans 신용하

[The Basques descend from the Koreans: when pseudohistory gets out of hand An article published by one of the intellectual figures of South Korea in which he affirms that the Basques come from East Asia has caused controversy in the Korean academy Visit of King Felipe I saw President Moon Jae-in.]

 It is said that when something bites us it is because someone is remembering us, and it is possible that on January 9, many Basque and Navarrese neighbors felt an itch in some part of their body. They probably didn't know, but they were talking about them in the other corner of the round planet. Specifically, in the pages of the conservative 'JoongAng Ilbo', one of the three most important newspapers in South Korea, in which in his weekly column the popular professor emeritus of sociology Shin Yong-ha explained in some paragraphs why the Basques and Navarrese descended from ancient Koreans. In his article, the former professor at the University of Seoul presented a series of clues to defend one more derivative of one of his main lines of argument, which is that a large part of the European population is of Korean descent. The gross logic is that the Avar people, a nomadic Eurasian people, are of Tungus origin, the peoples of eastern Siberia and Manchuria. "European scholars have not been able to identify the origins of these peculiar Basques," the column explained. "However, understanding the Ancient Joseon civilization will solve the problem quickly." Gojoseon or Old Joseon is an ancient Korean kingdom invaded by the Han Chinese dynasty in 108 BC. with capital in the old Liaoning and Pyongyang. Among the clues that the professor proposed to link the Basque origin with the destiny of the descendants of that fallen kingdom are: that the Basques are the descendants of the Avars "who fled to the western Pyrenees at that time"; that the word 'euskera' comes from the Korean 'kara'; that the grammatical constructions of the language are similar to those of Korean and to those of other Ural-Altaic languages ​​of also supposed Avar origin, as well as other words such as 'gogoeta' ('to love'); that the term Navarra comes from 'n ávaro', which shows its origin; or that culinary preparations such as dried fish or pickled salt are very similar to Korean ones. Historians agree that this is a pseudohistorical assertion, not even worthy of debate. But at the same time, it is a fascinating example of how the history of a region can be used in the other corner of the world with motivations totally foreign to locals, something that seems to be relatively common in Korea, where for idiomatic reasons and cultural it is not usual for a statement of this type to have any kind of repercussion in the other corner of the planet. In other words, what are the Basques painting in the Korean historical debate? "Shin's hypothesis does not make sense and I don't even think it can be considered a hypothesis," explains Canadian Javier Cha, a medievalist, digital historian and professor of East Asian Studies at the College of Liberal Studies at Seoul National University. Cha proposes the following images cited in the text as a sign that the evidence is, to say the least, flimsy: the coat of arms of Navarra and a traditional Korean game known as Iut or yut-nori. "So why do we find this variation?" Asks Cha, alluding to the third image. "It is nothing like the Korean game." Another piece of evidence presented in the column is that both languages ​​present a grammatical order of subject, object and verb. "So what? There are many other examples of the same order, including Latin." A Basque historian and ethnologist consulted by El Confidencial explains that the hypothesis makes no sense but prefers to stay out of the debate so as not to give it wings. As Cha recalls, "a typical habit of pseudohistory is to present something absurd to historians and then challenge them to prove it to be false." "The Korean-Basque hypothesis is at the wackiest end of the spectrum, even when it comes to pseudohistorians," adds Andrew Logie, assistant professor in Asian Studies at the University of Helsinki and a specialist in pseudohistory in East Asia. and Korea. "It fits into a similar category to arguing that Native Americans are descendants of ancient Korea or that any chosen group (like Koreans) are a lost tribe of Israelites. A few years ago, a Korean pseudo-historian argued that pizza was an invention! of Gojoseon that spread to Italy!

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---"Korean pseudohistory exerts great political influence" The first generation that established the idea of ​​that Gojoseon from which the Basques are supposedly born was made up of "independence activists." The next, the first to promote pseudohistory between the mid-1960s and 1980s, had grown and developed their careers within the Japanese empire, for example in the puppet state of Manchukuo. "This group gave a new purpose to that dream ideal of the former Manchurian empire, enlarging Korean (South) ethnic identity in the context of inter-Korean rivalry during the Cold War. Specifically, they exchanged pre-1945 Japanese ethical chauvinism for (South) Korean chauvinism. " Over the decades, the pseudohistory grew stronger and stronger: from the influence of An Ho-sang, Minister of Education in the late 1940s and Hitler sympathizer, who succeeded in imposing the Korean imperial vision in textbooks, through the publication of 'Hwandan Kogi', an apocryphal history book that "gave rise to great popular interest and belief in the ideas of Central Asian origin and the Manchurian empire, particularly among university students, including politicians from today". "Through its popular influence in the 1980s and pro-Japanese conspiracy charges against its critics, South Korean pseudohistory wields considerable political influence," Logie concludes. "The idea of ​​a great historical past is a peculiar issue that is supported by the entire Korean political spectrum. In particular, it is strongly supported by the political left (including the current Moon Jae-in Administration), which seeks better relations and a eventual unification with North Korea by invoking a great common history as the premise for reunification. " If it sounds strange to you that a 'giputxi' from Guetaria has Basque ancestors, don't worry: you are simply contributing to world peace. An academic war The ramifications of the Basque 'affair' go far beyond a simple column in one of the major Korean media and go back years, when pseudo-history began to weigh heavily on Korean decision-making to the point that some of the large international projects such as Harvard's Early Korea Project stopped receiving government funding, leading to its closure in 2017. Harvard researcher and project leader Mark E. Byington published a lengthy article in which he explained the dynamics of what happened. "Some of the members of the Government are followers of Korean pseudohistory" "The pseudohistory is not government propaganda, but there are specific members of the assembly who are political followers of Korean pseudohistory," adds Cha. "Sadly, some of those politicians are 'senior' members of the Moon Jae-in Administration. In mid-2010, these politicians, pressured by pseudo-historical organizations, withdrew funding to large academic projects on ancient Korean studies." . Among them, the aforementioned Early Korea Project or a historical-geographical database on ancient Northeast Asia. A situation that threatens to irrevocably damage Korean historiography. "Korean researchers can work on these issues in a professional context, but if they publish their results in a popular format, they risk being denounced by the pseudo-historians who dominate popular publication," Logie explains. They are accused of being colonial-era minded historians; for their part, they are labeled "fascists" for their "ethical chauvinism and accusatory tactics." "Korean pseudohistorians exploit and distort the existing political agenda and aspirations (nationalism, postcolonial decolonization and desire for reunification) to advance their pseudohistorical hypotheses, sell their books, and control the narrative of ancient Korea." Shin Yong-ha, he adds, is "part of this phenomenon." "Despite not being a trained historian or archaeologist, he has recently obtained large government funding to 'research' Gojoseon." Logie gives us a final reflection with which most Basque and Navarrese readers will be able to identify: "I don't know much about the early culture of Spain and the Basque Country, but I suspect that the Basques are often the subject of pseudohistorical hypotheses due to their unique ethnolinguistic identity ", he concludes. "For example, a Finnish linguist suggested that before the expansion of Indo-European languages, the European continent was divided only between the Finnish and Basque languages. Shin's hypothesis benefits from the fact that most Koreans know very little about the Basque culture, and that most Basques know little about Gojoseon. "

"한국의 사이비 역사는 정치적 영향력이 크다"바스크 인이 태어난 고조선이라는 사상을 확립 한 1 세대는 "독립 운동가"였다. 그 다음은 1960 년대 중반과 1980 년대 사이에 처음으로 사이비 역사를 홍보 한 사람으로, 예를 들어 꼭두각시 만주국과 같은 일본 제국 내에서 성장하고 발전했습니다. "이 그룹은 전 만주 제국의 꿈 이상에 새로운 목적을 부여하여 냉전 당시 남북 경쟁의 맥락에서 한국 (남한) 민족 정체성을 확대했습니다. 구체적으로, 그들은 1945 년 이전 일본의 윤리적 우월주의를 (남한)으로 교환했습니다. ) 한국의 쇼비니즘. " 1940 년대 후반 안호상 교육 부장관과 교과서에 한국 제국의 비전을 강요 한 히틀러 동조자의 영향으로 '환단 코기'출간을 통해 수십 년에 걸쳐 사이비 역사가 더욱 강해졌다. , "특히 오늘날의 정치인을 포함하여 대학생들 사이에서 중앙 아시아 출신과 만주 제국의 사상에 대한 대중의 관심과 믿음을 불러 일으켰다"는 외경 역사 책. "1980 년대 대중의 영향력과 비판자들에 대한 친일 음모 혐의를 통해 한국의 사이비 역사는 상당한 정치적 영향력을 행사한다"고 Logie는 결론 지었다. "위대한 역사적 과거에 대한 생각은 한국 전체 정치 스펙트럼이지지하는 특이한 문제입니다. 특히 더 나은 관계를 추구하는 정치 좌파 (현 문재인 정부 포함)의 강력한지지를 받고 있습니다. 그리고 통일의 전제로서 위대한 공동의 역사를 불러 일으킴으로써 궁극적 인 북한과의 통일. " Guetaria의 'giputxi'에 바스크어 조상이 있다는 것이 이상하게 들리더라도 걱정하지 마십시오. 단순히 세계 평화에 기여하는 것입니다. 학문적 전쟁 바스크 '외도'의 파급 효과는 한국의 주요 언론 매체 중 하나에서 단순한 칼럼을 넘어서서, 의사 역사가 한국의 의사 결정에 큰 비중을두기 시작한 해로 거슬러 올라갑니다. Harvard의 Early Korea Project와 같은 프로젝트는 정부 자금 지원을 중단하여 2017 년에 종료되었습니다. Harvard 연구원이자 프로젝트 리더 인 Mark E. Byington은 일어난 일의 역학을 설명하는 긴 기사를 발표했습니다. "정부 의원 중 일부는 한국 의사 역사의 추종자입니다." "사이비 역사는 정부의 선전이 아니지만 한국 의사 역사의 정치 추종자 인 의회의 특정 구성원이 있습니다." "슬프게도 그 정치인 중 일부는 문재인 정부의 '선임'일원이다. 2010 년 중반 사이비 역사 조직의 압력을받은이 정치인들은 고대 한국학에 대한 대규모 학술 프로젝트에 자금을 철회했다." 그중에서 앞서 언급 한 한국 초기 프로젝트 또는 고대 동북아에 대한 역사적 지리적 데이터베이스가있다. 한국 역사를 돌이킬 수없는 훼손을 위협하는 상황. "한국 연구자들은 전문적인 맥락에서 이러한 문제에 대해 연구 할 수 있지만, 결과를 대중적인 형식으로 게시하면 대중 출판물을 지배하는 의사 역사가들에 의해 비난받을 위험이 있습니다."라고 Logie는 설명합니다. 그들은 식민지 시대의 역사가라는 비난을 받고 있습니다. 그들은 자신들의 "윤리적 우월주의와 비난 적 전술"에 대해 "파시스트"라고 명명한다. "한국의 의사 사학자들은 의사 역사적 가설을 발전시키고 책을 판매하며 고대 한국의 서사를 통제하기 위해 기존의 정치적 의제와 열망 (민족주의, 탈식민주의 탈식민 화, 통일 욕구)을 착취하고 왜곡한다. 신용하가“이 현상의 일부”라고 덧붙였다. "숙련 된 역사 가나 고고학자는 아니지만 그는 최근에 고조선을 '연구'하기 위해 많은 정부 자금을 확보했습니다." Logie는 대부분의 바스크와 나바라 독자들이 확인할 수있는 최종 반성을 우리에게 제공합니다. "나는 스페인과 바스크 국가의 초기 문화에 대해 많이 알지 못합니다.하지만 바스크 인이 종종 의사 역사적 가설의 주제 인 것 같습니다. 고유 한 민족 언어 적 정체성으로 인해 "그는 결론을 내립니다. "예를 들어, 한 핀란드 언어학자는 인도-유럽 언어가 확장되기 전에 유럽 대륙이 핀란드어와 바스크어로만 나뉘 었다고 제안했습니다. 신의 가설은 대부분의 한국인이 바스크 문화에 대해 거의 알지 못한다는 사실에서 이점을 얻습니다. 대부분의 바스크 인들은 고조선에 대해 거의 알지 못합니다. "

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'The true origins of pizza', parody of the mentality of Korean pseudohistory. In fact, a few years ago, an advertising campaign for the Mr. Pizza chain already parodied the methods and reasoning of Korean nationalist pseudohistory to point out that the origins of the recipe were in the Asian peninsula. There is not that much distance between the ad and the column. The Lost Empire As with outrageous claims, there is much more than meets the eye. As Cha recalls, the hypothesis is neither history nor government propaganda. "Most South Koreans would not subscribe to Shin's absurd claim," he explains. "But there are enough people who would. The pseudo-story has a minority but substantial following in South Korea. 'JoongAng', where Shin published his article, is one of the major South Korean newspapers. We might ask why a 'mainstream' medium. did you provide diffusion to that nonsense? " In Korea, it continues, it is common to find books of questionable accuracy on the shelves of shopping centers such as Kyobo or YP Books. "Readers consume pseudohistory books," he adds. "There is demand for this nonsense that claims that the ancient Koreans formed a gigantic Auro-Asian empire and even crossed the Pacific thousands of years ago." "The hypothesis covers Japanese or native Indian languages, and now Basque" "Shin's hypothesis is a variant of a common theme in ancient world history," adds Logie. "The Korean Standard Version is based on two elements: 1) That the early Korean state of Old Joseon was an expansionist empire centered in Manchuria (modern-day Northeast Asia and Far Eastern Russia) and 2) that the origins of the Old Joseon empire are in a proto-civilization originating in central Asia. " This empire was founded around 2333 BC. According to these theories, Logie explains, but according to a more historical view, it was probably around the third century BC. This narrative has a lot to do with two explanations that are very present in all pseudohistorical attributions, the professor continues. On the one hand, "‘ diffusionism ’, the idea that a culture and civilization had a single point of origin (in this case Central Asia) that spread throughout the world due to long-range migrations." On the other, "the Ural-Altaic hypothesis, which ensures that the following languages ​​come from the same family: the Finnish and Ural languages, and the Altaic languages: Turkish, Mongolian, Tunisian, Korean and Japanese." In some cases, Native American languages ​​are also added to this list, but never Basque until now. "Shin's hypothesis is based on (extremely) long migrations and the idea that Euskera is a Uralic language", continues the professor. "He does not indicate the geographic origin for the Basques, he only defends that they share a language and culture similar to Gojoseon and Korea. In short, his hypothesis makes sense for those who are immersed in Korean pseudohistory and those who are familiar with ideas that are based on diffusionism, long-range migrations and the search for similarities between words. However, the Basque element is a new twist invented by Shin ". The history of Korean pseudohistory is long and profuse, as detailed by Logie, who published a study on the matter entitled "Salvation Through History." It starts during the Japanese colonization of Korea between 1910 and 1945 and the Japanese expansion into Manchuria and China with "the cultural revitalization efforts led by Korean intellectuals from 1910 against Japanese rule and a subsequent internalization of the ideology promoted by the Japanese of Turanism, which vindicated the ethnic brotherhood between Manchurians, Koreans and Japanese (and other pan-Uralic-Altaians), later justifying the Japanese 'liberation' of that population and territory from Chinese and Western imperialism ". The Korean intelligentsia begins to defend that their great problem has been subordination to China.