The Iceberg

(AP Photo)

According to this AP story (via Yahoo), Korean-American taekwondo masters are hoping to reunite the two Koreas through displays of taekwondo.

Just as the U.S. and China drew closer together through “pingpong diplomacy” in the 1970s, Jung and his delegation of martial arts practitioners hope their “taekwondo diplomacy” can help resolve the Koreas’ equally intransigent stalemate.

I admire Mr. Jung’s optimism, but I think he’s just a tad bit naive. I found the following quote of particular interest:

“Female or male, old people and young, black or white, it doesn’t matter — we’re just all wishing for unification,” Jung, 64, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, told the audience.

A big Scooby-Doo “Huh”? Black or white? I wasn’t aware that there were black or white Koreans in the North. Perhaps Mr. Jung was being just a little too exuberant in his pie-in-the-sky calls for reunification, but if he were familiar with this or this he might reconsider his opinion.