Baeguk

[beifengxiaoxiao]

The Dankioray
May the Third, 5733

OPINION - The Government's Decision to Cut Ties with Kalistan Benefits Nobody
The Yoon Administration's expulsion of the Kalistani consulate will do little in reality and continue to embitter Baeguk's international reputation

Author: YURI Haeoreum

In yet another bellicose act of political theater by the incumbent administration, the Kalistani consulate in Gongmangdo has been ordered to close by the KGB Office of Foreign Affairs. The move signals the present severing of official diplomatic relations between the KGB and Ananto, which had existed (albeit in a languished and neglected state) for centuries prior.

The KGB OFA alleged that the Kalistani representatives summoned were "insufficient" in "demonstrations of supplication to the Son of Heaven", and that Kalistan had acted in a rash manner as to offend Cheon (Heaven in the indigenous Gaoic religion). 

Indeed, public opinion in Baeguk, which was previously neutral, has soured immensely due to Kalistan's continued use of a sore and traumatic term for the nation. The use of the term "Dankuk" (國亶) instead of Baeguk, the commonly accepted Luthorian-language term for Baeguk (domestically referred to as 國拜), is seen as politically and culturally deeply insensitive by most countrymen, given its heavy use by the genocidal Kyo Commonwealth of Dankuk during the dark age of fascism in the 52nd-53rd centuries. Given the common use of Baeguk and the negative associations the old term, the Foreign Office declared the offensive Kalistani as an insult to Baegukese people and their struggle against fascism during the dark period.

Baeguk and Kalistan have maintained relatively tepid diplomatic relations in recent history, having had little to no interaction. For instance, in the original diplomatic cable during the spat the OFA erroneousy referred to the consulate of Kalistan as the embassy. Apparently, the misunderstanding was due to the translation of the native term for consulate vs. embassy ( 館使公/館使大). The Kalistani office had not used native terms and staffed Kyo speakers of a different dialect, which had confused the translators of the OFA. 

In a practical sense, neither government has much to lose over the severing of relations given the relative lack of human, economic, or intellectual capital that defines the bilateral relationship. Less than 1,000 KGB citizens are believed to reside in Kalistan at the present time. Baeguk will likely seek the intermediary protective use of a neutral power to manage those affairs, though the irresponsible administration has given no comment to these matters. As for Kalistanis in Baeguk, their numbers are unknown but are believed to be incredibly small in population. The government hasn't actually banned Kalistanis from residing in or living in the KGB as of yet, though unless Kalistan uses a protecting power's diplomatic status they will be without immediate legal relief.

However, this means that there is little to nothing gained in the row. Kalistan was a nation that had no real serious quarrel with our nation other than commenting in a characteristically frank and unconventional manner towards international affairs, as is their reputation internationally. Kalistan may have not been the most respectful, but it is undoubtable that it was this administration that picked a fight with what was a relatively neutral nation.

It is this reporter's opinion that this move has granted effectively nothing to the KGB other than making it look sensitive and irritable. At a time where Baeguk and the Holy Gaoic Empire are already viewed somewhat as an antiquated case of novel "Oriental despotism", and Dovanian and Gao-Showan peoples are frequently subjected to racism and discrimination abroad, such conduct is unbecoming and only serves to tarnish Baeguk's international reputation. The KGB may have lost nothing, but it may have incurred a degree of infamy.

This is an opinion piece independently edited and written by the author. It does not in any way represent the views of The Dankioray.