TAIWAN - An unusual exchange between Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou and a Korean student in Taiwan has caused a stir.
According to a news release by the Taipei Mission in Korea, Ma had an informal discussion with students of Taipei-based St. John's University on Sunday.
During the meeting, Lee Jin-hee, the only Korean student attending the university, made an unusual request to the Taiwanese leader.
Lee asked Ma to clear up two Taiwanese misunderstandings of Koreans. One misunderstanding is that Koreans think that Confucius was a Korean.
Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou fields a question in an informal discussion with students of St. John's University in Taipei on Sunday. (Taipei Mission in Korea)
"Taiwanese who I met say that Koreans try to 'steal' Confucius," she said. "Other Korean students in Taiwan hear similar remarks."
The other misunderstanding is that Koreans invented Taiwanese soybean soup. "I feel victimized as Koreans are misunderstood as a nation who likes to make off with cultures of other nations."
Lee said that Korean schools teach students that Confucius was Chinese, but that she felt limited in explaining truth to everyone who raised such questions.
"I request that the Taiwanese president, who is the most influential and reliable person, dissipate the misunderstandings directly and publicly," Lee said.
Ma looked embarrassed as he expected questions about weightier issues such as the luxury tax, but accepted Lee's point.
"According to the student, Korean schools teach that Confucius was Chinese and Koreans do not think that Confucius was Korean," Ma told those at the meeting.
The China Times reported that the exchange between Ma and Lee was an episode showing the lack of mutual understanding and a Taiwanese political culture that was friendly to its people, Taipei Mission said.
-The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Asia/Story/A1Story20110414-273621.html
