At what point did someone think this would be a good idea?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...3&u=/nm/20050314/wl_nm/korea_japan_islands_dc
S.Koreans Chop Off Fingers in Anti-Japan Protest
<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="420"> <tbody><tr valign="middle"> <td width="40%"> <!-- Yahoo TimeStamp: 1110790530 --> <!-- timestamp 1110790530 38758 secs stale 28800 secs --> Mon Mar 14, 3:55 AM ET
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</td><td nowrap="nowrap" width="99%"> World - Reuters</td></tr></tbody></table> </td> </tr></tbody> </table> <!-- TextStart -->
SEOUL (Reuters) - [size=-1] Two Koreans used weed clippers and a knife to lop off fingers on Monday outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul to protest at Tokyo's claims on a group of desolate islands that South Korea (news - web sites) insists is its territory. [/size]
<table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="1%"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="99%"> <!-- ult --> <center> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="150"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td> <center>
Reuters Photo </center>
</td></tr></tbody></table> </center> </td><td width="5"> </td></tr></tbody></table> [size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] Park Kyung-ja, a 67-year-old woman, and Cho Seung-kyu, 40, each chopped off a finger during a rally at the embassy gates. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] The long-simmering dispute over the islands, called Tokto in Korea and Takeshima in Japan, flared as Tokyo and Seoul were celebrating the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] Park and Cho struggled with police in riot gear guarding the embassy as they severed their digits. Police said the pair were then rushed away for medical treatment. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] The two were part of a group of 16 people that burned Japanese flags and shouted slogans accusing Japan of acting as Korea's colonial overlord. Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] "Japan must stop the attempt to invade Tokto," demanded Hong Jung-shik, who leads an anti-Japan organization based in Seoul. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] Japanese Ambassador Toshiyuki Takano was in Tokyo on Monday to discuss the sudden deterioration of bilateral ties. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] The dispute dates back 60 years to the end of World war two, when a defeated Japan withdrew from the peninsula. The volcanic islands, uninhabited except for a South Korean garrison, sit astride rich fishing grounds. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] South Korean government officials have said that the territorial dispute could harm the neighbors' warming ties. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] "No country in the world conducts quiet diplomacy when it comes to territorial rights," ruling Uri Party member Kim Won-wung said on South Korea's KBS radio. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] The dispute over the rocky outcrops in the Sea of Japan, which South Korea refers to as the East Sea, flared in late February when Takano restated Tokyo's position that the islands were "historically and legally" part of Japan. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] The islands lie midway between Japan and South Korea, about 220 km (140 miles) from the eastern Korean port of Samchok and the same distance from Matsue in western Japan. [/size]
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...3&u=/nm/20050314/wl_nm/korea_japan_islands_dc
S.Koreans Chop Off Fingers in Anti-Japan Protest
<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="420"> <tbody><tr valign="middle"> <td width="40%"> <!-- Yahoo TimeStamp: 1110790530 --> <!-- timestamp 1110790530 38758 secs stale 28800 secs --> Mon Mar 14, 3:55 AM ET
</td> <td align="right" nowrap="nowrap" width="60%"> <table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="1%"> <tbody><tr><td width="1%">
</td><td nowrap="nowrap" width="99%"> World - Reuters</td></tr></tbody></table> </td> </tr></tbody> </table> <!-- TextStart --> SEOUL (Reuters) - [size=-1] Two Koreans used weed clippers and a knife to lop off fingers on Monday outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul to protest at Tokyo's claims on a group of desolate islands that South Korea (news - web sites) insists is its territory. [/size]
<table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="1%"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td width="99%"> <!-- ult --> <center> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="150"> <tbody><tr valign="top"> <td> <center>
Reuters Photo </center>
</td></tr></tbody></table> </center> </td><td width="5"> </td></tr></tbody></table> [size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] Park Kyung-ja, a 67-year-old woman, and Cho Seung-kyu, 40, each chopped off a finger during a rally at the embassy gates. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] The long-simmering dispute over the islands, called Tokto in Korea and Takeshima in Japan, flared as Tokyo and Seoul were celebrating the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] Park and Cho struggled with police in riot gear guarding the embassy as they severed their digits. Police said the pair were then rushed away for medical treatment. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] The two were part of a group of 16 people that burned Japanese flags and shouted slogans accusing Japan of acting as Korea's colonial overlord. Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] "Japan must stop the attempt to invade Tokto," demanded Hong Jung-shik, who leads an anti-Japan organization based in Seoul. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] Japanese Ambassador Toshiyuki Takano was in Tokyo on Monday to discuss the sudden deterioration of bilateral ties. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] The dispute dates back 60 years to the end of World war two, when a defeated Japan withdrew from the peninsula. The volcanic islands, uninhabited except for a South Korean garrison, sit astride rich fishing grounds. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] South Korean government officials have said that the territorial dispute could harm the neighbors' warming ties. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] "No country in the world conducts quiet diplomacy when it comes to territorial rights," ruling Uri Party member Kim Won-wung said on South Korea's KBS radio. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] The dispute over the rocky outcrops in the Sea of Japan, which South Korea refers to as the East Sea, flared in late February when Takano restated Tokyo's position that the islands were "historically and legally" part of Japan. [/size]
[size=-1] [/size]
[size=-1] The islands lie midway between Japan and South Korea, about 220 km (140 miles) from the eastern Korean port of Samchok and the same distance from Matsue in western Japan. [/size]
