South Korea's soccer team made it to the semi-finals of the World Cup. Strangely, however, most people in Taiwan seemed rather miffed that the team made it that far. People in Taiwan were quick to condemn the referees for favoring South Korea -- as did people in many other countries -- but they also resented what they felt were petty moves made South Korea as one of the co-hosts of the tournament. It wasn't until the South Koreans lost to Germany that all the cursing died down.
Taiwanese have a love-hate relationship with South Korea. There has been a Korea fever in recent years, due to the popularity of South Korean pop culture. But people in Taiwan have long looked down on Koreans -- a viewpoint brought over from China by the KMT. Historically, the Chinese felt a strong sense of superiority toward Korea since it was a vassal state to imperial China. South Korea's severing of ties with Taipei 10 years ago embittered many people in Taiwan, who felt betrayed by a nation that had for decades been a fellow soldier in the war against communism.
On the other hand, people in Taiwan have never seriously tried to understand their neighbor. "Sibling states" was a term adopted by the two countries to characterize their relationship when they were frontline states in the battle against communism. And like many siblings, they often quarreled over who did what or other trivial matters. While South Korea's model of political and economic development has been similar to that of Taiwan, economically Taiwan was always stronger. But by the late 1980s, South Korea had caught up.
After diplomatic relations were terminated, the two nations deliberately ignored each other's existence. However, each often secretly viewed the other as a mirror from which it could learn. But a lack of understanding meant that both sides often made erroneous comparisons based on superficial appearances. For example, whenever signs of a reconciliation in the Korean peninsula appear -- such as the Korean Summit in June 2000 -- the sensitive nerves of Taiwan's pro-unification camps would be triggered. They would use the Korean example to mock the cross-strait impasse and pressure the Taiwan government for action.
Even South Korea's leftwing writer and apologist for North Korea, Huang Seok-young, was exalted as "the national hero of the Korean people" by the pro-unification Lung Ying-tai (
If Taiwan's Korean complex continues to be built on the basis of ignorance, giving the pro-unification camp opportunities to make wrongful comparisons between Taiwan and Korea, what hope do the people of Taiwan have to shape international perspectives and talk of internationalization? Learning from neighboring countries through a mutually beneficial relationship is the way to begin building a sense of self-identification and an international vision as an oceanic state.
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