Newsletter

In June 2020, an article appeared on the main page of Yahoo Japan to introduce the activities of the cyber diplomatic corps VANK. The article focused on Japanese attention, with 1,132 comments in a day. But the story about VANK in the article was absurd. It was that 'VANK has over 100 researchers, receiving over 2 billion yen a year from the Korean government'. And VANK's representative is a ministerial-level figure appointed by the Korean government, and VANK's aim is to undermine Japan by lying to isolate Japan from the world. These attacks by Japanese media continue to expand.

Video posted by Japanese YouTube channel 'Chomo & Chunky' after manipulating and distorting VANK's activities

VANK is manipulating public opinion, and the FBI is investigating VANK?

Japanese far-right media have criticized the Korean civic group VANK intensively and defined it as an extreme anti-Japanese group. This is because Vank protested against earrings with flag of the rising sun in the Japanese movie Demon Slayer, which is being screened on Netflix. In addition, VANK actively informed the international community about the distortion of ‘Sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army’ by Professor Ramseyer of Harvard University. So, the YouTube channel of Japan joins together to produce and spread videos of fake news about VANK.

For example, a Japanese YouTube channel 'Chomo & Chunky' said, "An anti-Japanese group VANK attacked the server of the San Francisco Data Center in the United States and reported to the FBI. VANK is teaching cyber terrorism to Korean teenagers, and after the incident was reported to the FBI, the cyber attack that has been going on has stopped. Korea is in a panic." They posted an 11-minute video of this incendiary content. This was 163,456 views in a week. Another video they made, "The darkness of Korea's largest anti-Japanese group 'VANK' has begun to be known to the world" which has 138,989 views. In this video, they also defined VANK as a cyber terrorism group, and argued that VANK maliciously manipulate and hack international information. Even they argue that VANK has intervened in the process of selecting 'the 100 Most Influential People in the World' by Time magazine in 2018. They conveyed the unfounded speculation as if it were true: "VANK manipulated the BTS' rankings to number one using unjust methods, and manipulated President Moon Jae-in's rankings to number two."

Shimamuraida's room, which has 118,000 subscribers, also posted a video titled "Do not forgive Korea and anti-Japanese organization VANK." They instigated the Japanese people by saying: "VANK is making it known to the world by manipulating everything. For example, sexual slavery victims for the Japanese Imperial Army, Dokdo, flag of the rising sun, Demon Slayer, Hashima Island, etc." Another YouTube channel 'News plus Current affairs' said Ramseyer's paper had no problem and intensively criticized VANK's activities. The video showed 173,929 views. ‘KAZUYA Channel’ which has 690,000 subscribers, has focused on criticizing Vank's activities. They say "Korean group VANK protests Netflix with anger at earrings in the movie Demon Slayer."

In addition, 'Aegis Channel' with 100,000 subscribers posted the following title. 'VANK rampages to the truth that the United States cried. Koreans go mad again in the history of Korea. - Yoko was the target of this time!' 「So Far from the Bamboo Grove」 written by Yoko Kawashima Watkins is a novel depicting Japan as a victim of World War II and Koreans as perpetrators of wartime sexual violence. The number of views on this video reaches 104,900 times.

VANK petitioned the world's largest petition site 'CHANGE' 

for Professor Ramseyer's distortion of the sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army, 

and more than 30,000 people from around the world participated in the petition.    

"If you can't refute the message, attack the messenger."

Why is the Japanese far-right media and YouTube channel making such outrageous fake news? VANK has never been investigated by the FBI, and has never been cyber terrorist. Nor did we manipulate information so that BTS could be the most influential figure in the world. So why are they spreading fake news and attacking us on a massive scale? That's because they are wary of our activities. VANK's activities to inform the international community about Japan's distortion of history have made great achievements. So, they have no way to undermine the message, eventually distort and convey the contents of VANK. The purpose of these actions is to make most Japanese antagonize VANK's activities.

Japan ignored the fact that we had demanded reflection and apology for Japan's distortion of history and past invasion of imperialism. However, as VANK has been engaged in various activities to inform the world about the problems of history distortion, Japan has become busy. The VANK revealed the weakness Japan was trying to hide. Above all, the time VANK was active coincides with the time when young people around the world paid attention to Korea and Koreans due to the Korean Wave.

The tilted playground flattened in about 100 years

Now, the tilted playground between Korea and Japan has been restored. And in about 100 years since 1910, the opportunity to play as a player on an equal track in the marathon game of 'The Truth of History'was given. VANK is telling the world about Japan's history distortions. But Japan still hasn't kept its vows to never start war again after World War II. The visit of Japanese leaders to the TWS is a representative sign and essence. They distort Japan's 'invasion' into 'entry' in elementary, middle and high school textbooks. In addition, they distort 'the East Sea' to 'the Sea of ​​Japan', 'Dokdo' to 'Takeshima', and 'sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army' to voluntary prostitutes in textbooks around the world. VANK has distinguished the essence and phenomenon that Japan has hidden, and has responded thoroughly to them. VANK has a critical mind in spreading extreme right-wing thinking to Japanese youth. We will make efforts to create digital content in Japanese and inform Japanese youth about the right history.