Japan and South Korea are at odds over the Liancourt Rocks. In Japanese, they are called "Takeshima", while in Korean they are known as "Dokdo". Tensions between the two countries have now reached the point where giant robots are involved.


Enter Robot Taekwon V. According to reports, the jumbo Korean bot is now doing for PR for the Liancourt Rocks issue. Okay, so what's the big deal? The big deal is that Robot Taekwon V, which debuted in 1976 and was the first Korean robot anime, was heavily inspired by a Japanese giant robot. That's the big deal!

In Japan, anime and manga fans have called the Korean bot a Mazinger Z "rip-off" for decades. When Taekwon V debuted, its creator openly acknowledged the Mazinger Z influence. These days, that influence is more of a touchy issue. If you are interested, website KakureGaijin goes in to greater detail about the two bots—and the tensions between both countries over them.

You can see a comparison between both Robot Taekwon V and Mazinger Z (Robot Taekwon V has the "V" on its chest). These are not to scale because Korean made its robot much bigger.

Nonetheless, the notion that this Korean creation, which was based on a Japanese one, could actually be doing PR over a territorial issue between the two countries is...baffling.

If this report is true and if South Korea has roped in Robot Taekwon V to do PR for these rocks, there is only one way for the two countries to settle the dispute: Build working life-sized versions and make them fight.

韓国"パクリロボ"で領有権主張 [Tokyo Sports]

(Top photo: NATE)
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