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Glad to see both the Island of Dokdo (a.k.a. Takeshima) and Sea of Japan (a.k.a. the East Sea) are recognized, but it missed my favorite(?) edit war: was An(Ahn

Glad to see both the Island of Dokdo (a.k.a. Takeshima) and Sea of Japan (a.k.a. the East Sea) are recognized, but it missed my favorite(?) edit war: was An(Ahn) Jung-geun, a Korean nationalist who shot and killed Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi one year before Japan's annexation of Korea, a terrorist? Should he be included in "Category: Terrorists"? You decide!

james_s_tayler 7y ago
Don't you mean Takeshima a.k.a Dokdo?
- yongjik 7y ago
  HOW DARE YOU
knolax 7y ago
Calling An Jung-Geun a terrorist would be akin to calling George Washington a terrorist. The difference between freedom fighter and terrorist may be murky to some, but generally tact dictates that you don't call someone a terrorist if his faction goes on to establish a recognized sovereign state, especially if the side he was opposing was literally comitting genocide.
- SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
  I expect it would be a matter of some controversy if George Washington had started the revolution by shooting Lord Dunmore.
- lifthrasiir 7y ago
  The word terrorist can have either a literal meaning (who intentionally uses violence for their goals) or a politically charged meaning (who does that illegitimately, with some---varying---definition of "illegitimately"). The former is very clear, while everyone will have different opinions on the latter (hey, I think the opposing state is still not compensating genocide's victims). I wouldn't mind labelling An Jung-Geun as the former for that reason, just make sure that the label is clearly documented.
  - dmos62 7y ago
    Those aren't the definitions I use. I'd argue a terrorist is someone whose goal and/or means to achieve a goal is terror. Even further off topic, but I really think we should dial down on usage of terrorist. A "terrorist" is first and foremost a criminal, the rest is sensationalization and fear mongering.
    - jjgreen 7y ago
      In the UK, there are plenty of young Asian boys in prison on "Terrorist related" offences: basically watching the wrong sort of videos online.
      - KMag 7y ago
        Note well: in AmE, "Asian" almost exclusively refers to East Asian or Southeast Asian origin. I can picture some of my friends back home wondering what some Japanese-Brit kids are watching that gets them in so much trouble.
        jjgreen 7y ago
        Thanks, noted. It's mostly Pakistani boys in Northern (English) cities in this situation ...
    - 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
      The goal of terrorism is not terror in itself (that's just mass murder), it's violence for a political purpose.
      - dmos62 7y ago
        I'd distinguish popular usage and etymology. Terrorism is about terror. Mass murder is about a lot of murder. Mass murder can be not terroristic (a lot of people murdered, but population not terrified); terrorism can be not mass murderous (mass murder isn't the only way to instill terror); and, violence for a political purpose isn't always terrifying (or mass murderous, for the sake of completeness).
- TulliusCicero 7y ago
  Someone leading armies in a war isn't generally called a terrorist even if their side is full of assholes. People don't generally call the Nazis terrorists, for example.
Freak_NL 7y ago
I guess Liancourt Rocks is a fair compromise, but wouldn't it be nice if the governments of Japan and South Korea could settle on 独竹島／獨竹島 one day¹? Literally, lonely bamboo island (どくちくしま・독죽도²). I wonder if I'm the first one to come up with this portmanteau? 1: Not any time soon, obviously. 2: Probably. Correct me if I'm wrong.
- hombre_fatal 7y ago
  fwiw, while the superscript ¹ and ² are cute, I had to scour your two sentences to find them because they just look like specks on the monitor or ligatures or part of the content. Like the " in ど or a single quotation mark'. Would be hell if you used it on a longer comment.
  - Freak_NL 7y ago
    That would be a fault with HN's minimal CSS style I'm afraid. I have HN zoomed in at 160% in the browser because of the small font-size — it solves most legibility problems.
juped 7y ago
I believe the Japanese deserve the Liancourt rocks because they gave them humorous ribald names.

james_s_tayler 7y ago

Don't you mean Takeshima a.k.a Dokdo?

yongjik 7y ago
HOW DARE YOU

knolax 7y ago

Calling An Jung-Geun a terrorist would be akin to calling George Washington a terrorist. The difference between freedom fighter and terrorist may be murky to some, but generally tact dictates that you don't call someone a terrorist if his faction goes on to establish a recognized sovereign state, especially if the side he was opposing was literally comitting genocide.

SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
I expect it would be a matter of some controversy if George Washington had started the revolution by shooting Lord Dunmore.
lifthrasiir 7y ago
The word terrorist can have either a literal meaning (who intentionally uses violence for their goals) or a politically charged meaning (who does that illegitimately, with some---varying---definition of "illegitimately"). The former is very clear, while everyone will have different opinions on the latter (hey, I think the opposing state is still not compensating genocide's victims). I wouldn't mind labelling An Jung-Geun as the former for that reason, just make sure that the label is clearly documented.
- dmos62 7y ago
  Those aren't the definitions I use. I'd argue a terrorist is someone whose goal and/or means to achieve a goal is terror. Even further off topic, but I really think we should dial down on usage of terrorist. A "terrorist" is first and foremost a criminal, the rest is sensationalization and fear mongering.
  - jjgreen 7y ago
    In the UK, there are plenty of young Asian boys in prison on "Terrorist related" offences: basically watching the wrong sort of videos online.
    - KMag 7y ago
      Note well: in AmE, "Asian" almost exclusively refers to East Asian or Southeast Asian origin. I can picture some of my friends back home wondering what some Japanese-Brit kids are watching that gets them in so much trouble.
      - jjgreen 7y ago
        Thanks, noted. It's mostly Pakistani boys in Northern (English) cities in this situation ...
  - 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
    The goal of terrorism is not terror in itself (that's just mass murder), it's violence for a political purpose.
    - dmos62 7y ago
      I'd distinguish popular usage and etymology. Terrorism is about terror. Mass murder is about a lot of murder. Mass murder can be not terroristic (a lot of people murdered, but population not terrified); terrorism can be not mass murderous (mass murder isn't the only way to instill terror); and, violence for a political purpose isn't always terrifying (or mass murderous, for the sake of completeness).
TulliusCicero 7y ago
Someone leading armies in a war isn't generally called a terrorist even if their side is full of assholes. People don't generally call the Nazis terrorists, for example.

Freak_NL 7y ago

I guess Liancourt Rocks is a fair compromise, but wouldn't it be nice if the governments of Japan and South Korea could settle on 独竹島／獨竹島 one day¹? Literally, lonely bamboo island (どくちくしま・독죽도²). I wonder if I'm the first one to come up with this portmanteau? 1: Not any time soon, obviously. 2: Probably. Correct me if I'm wrong.

hombre_fatal 7y ago
fwiw, while the superscript ¹ and ² are cute, I had to scour your two sentences to find them because they just look like specks on the monitor or ligatures or part of the content. Like the " in ど or a single quotation mark'. Would be hell if you used it on a longer comment.
- Freak_NL 7y ago
  That would be a fault with HN's minimal CSS style I'm afraid. I have HN zoomed in at 160% in the browser because of the small font-size — it solves most legibility problems.

juped 7y ago

I believe the Japanese deserve the Liancourt rocks because they gave them humorous ribald names.