What the heck is going on on the other side of the planet? Last week we learned that books claiming to teach the secrets of “how to get rich the Jewish way” are bestsellers in China, and this week a Korean comic book is in the news with some scary propaganda within its pages:
The book says Korean-Americans are diligent and successful in the U.S., “but in the end, always run into the wall called the Jews.” The accompanying picture shows an exasperated man walking up a hill only to be blocked by a brick wall with a Star of David and the word “STOP” in English.
It goes on to hold Jews responsible for 9/11, claims the American media is run by Jews and asserts these are commonly held beliefs. The comic is part of hugely popular South Korean series called “Distant Countries and Neighboring Countries” and is supposed to be teaching children about the rest of the world.
Korean-American groups are outraged and have teamed up with the Simon Wiesenthal Center (which has posted ANOTHER story about anti-Semitic books in Japan) to raise concerns with the publisher, Gimm-Young. Rabbi Abraham Cooper of SWC has urged Gimm-Young in a letter to replace the “litany of hate” in the comic book’s pages and will travel to Seoul in two weeks, presumably to see these changes through. These dangerous beliefs about Jews have likely flourished in Korea because there is no established Jewish community there to provide a truthful representation. Too bad there’s not an emergency arm of Chabad (or maybe that’s a good thing.)
Since the story broke, author Lee Won-Bok has beleagueredly defended that he is not anti-Semitic in the least, it’s just that the Jews are the invisible force that controls the U.S.” and he wrote the chapter to let people know that “you cant understand the U.S. without knowing the Jewish community.
Can you believe this guy is a university professor? Are they handing out PhDs with the BBQ or what? Can’t wait to see that chapter on Israel.
*Thanks to reader Jonathan Moeller for the tip!