Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Well hot damn, a story that brings together language, video game culture, and long-standing Korean-Japanese tensions, with a dose of crazy impending nuclear doom as well!  A Japanese video game voice actor made a little joke about Korea (not specifically North Korea) lobbing missiles across the East Sea while on stage with some ethnic Korean colleagues and all hell broke loose:

"There are many things to unpack here. First, the word Terajima used is 'Chousenjin' (朝鮮人), which literally means 'Korean person.' The problem is that the word doesn’t make any difference between North and South Koreans, with the word for North Koreans being 'Kita-Chousenjin' ('Kita' means 'North') and the word for South Koreans being 'Kankokujin' ('Kankoku' means 'South Korea').

Koreans make up a large ethnic group in Japan. Those with permanent residency are either 'zainichi Kankokujin' if they are South Korean or 'zainichi Chousenjin.' The term 'zainichi' (在日) means 'Japanese resident.' For example, North Korean schools in Japan are called 'Chousenjin Gakkou' (Korean Schools), which are sponsored by North Korea and teach the students pro-North Korean ideology.

So although the word 'Chousenjin' is used in an official context, the word 'Chousenjin' can be considered a slur, especially if it’s directed at all Koreans. For North Koreans in Japan, 'zainchi Chousenjin' is the proper term and for South Koreans 'Kita-Chousenjin' is correct. The word 'Chousenjin' is, on its own, loaded and seen as offensive.

But the comment is more than that. This weekend, North Korea once again fired test missiles. Now might not be the best time for bad missile jokes."

Complicated stuff for an outsider, but the history and culture of ethnic Koreans (North and South) within Japan is fascinating and I wish I knew more about it.  It's easy enough to see why a Korean person living in Japan would feels slurred by the notion that "all of Korea" is a dangerous, missile-happy Juche paradise.