S. Korea politicians criticize China over traditional dress

By KIM TONG-HYUNG
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Major South Korean presidential candidates have accused China of laying claim to their culture after a performer wore a traditional Korean dress during the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics. A woman in a white and light purple hanbok dress marched along other performers apparently representing China’s various ethnic groups as they carried the Chinese national flag during Friday’s event in Beijing. The resentment expressed by South Korean politicians came amid public sensitivity about recent Chinese claims on the internet about the origins of major Korean cultural items, including kimchi, a national dish of fermented cabbage. But others saw such reactions as misguided, saying it was clear that the woman was representing an estimated 2 million ethnic Koreans living in China.