My father's family root lies north of the 38th parallel, somewhere near the controversial nuclear plant.  I never been there but I will have to someday when my father dies so he can be buried next to his parents and ancestors.  While I was born in Seoul, Korea, I have always thought my father's home village was mine also.

Likewise, I have always thought I was a child of Koguryo, an ancestial Korean kingdom from the past because of my father's family roots and, as silly as it might sound, how we look and behave.  I also liked that Koguryo was a warrior's kingdom, much more so than the kingdoms that followed like Chosun where Confucious scholars introduced a caste system and placed themselves at the top.  Well, pen proved to be of no defense against swords when Japan invaded.

From Austin Ramsey's Times Asia article Rewriting History:

In A.D. 612 an Imperial Chinese army of more than a million soldiers marched on the northeast Asian kingdom of Koguryo. Though vastly outnumbered, the soldiers of Koguryo—whom many modern-day Koreans see as their ancestors—routed the Chinese in a victory that is still a source of pride on both sides of the DMZ.

Now, almost 1,400 years later, Chinese scholars are attempting a subtler land grab, claiming that the ancient kingdom of Koguryo was a part of China—a "regional government founded by an ethnic group," as Beijing's state-run Northeast Asia Project put it in June. The argument isn't just academic.

This feud over history is very important to me because Chinese scholars, sponsored by the Chinese government, are threatening an important part of who I am.  My feelings are shared by most Koreans and there has been an upswelling of anti-Chinese sentiments in Korea, particularly among the young.  A good indication is an increasing number of amateur future history novels in which united Korea invades China to take back the land it lost over the years.

While the Koguryo part of me wishes the same, I would be happy if China just left Korean history alone before wishes become future bloodshed.