One would think that the world’s adults would see it as their rudimentary duty to keep the minds of their children pure and free from hatred, malice and all other forms of prejudice that have plagued humanity since time immemorial. Sadly, this is not the case in any part of the world, as we all know too well.

Case in point: These drawings made by South Korean school children that depict strong anti-Japanese sentiment. Certainly amusing on the one hand (especially the one with the rabbit plopping out a smelly Japan-shaped turd), but also terribly saddening on the other. There is definitely a long history of past aggression against the Korean peninsula at the hands of the Japanese, in addition to the current conflicts over Dokdo/Takeshima island, Japanese textbooks and Yasukuni shrine, but I suppose that it would be foolishly idealistic to wish that people would have some perspective to realize that relatively trivial issues such as these are no excuse for polluting the minds of innocent children.

Oh well. . . at least it’s good to know that artistic creativity is still alive and well; some of the drawings reveal quite a bit of talent.

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