452 – The Korean Tiger
n
Korea as a tiger: what a beautiful map. The peninsula’s shape is rendered in the image of the local big cat , also known as the Siberian, Manchurian or Altaic tiger (Panthera tigris altaica). This is done in a manner reminiscent of the Leo belgicus (see #425).
n
One obvious difference: tigers were actually endemic in Korea until quite recently, lions haven’t been sighted in northwestern Europe in recorded history. One obvious similarity: the predatory cat depicts a nation divided: in the belgicus case a nation now split between the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, in the Korean case, a nation still divided between the capitalist South and the stalinist North.
n
This map was brought to my attention by Anselm, who used it to point out the regional rivalry between Korea and Japan (nobody hates anybody like their neighbour) .
n
A first map shows how Japanese extremists feel about Korea (they’d rather it didn’t exist), a second one shows how Korean extremists might feel about Japan (as the excrement of the aforementioned Korean tiger).
n
n
n
