This file photo taken Aug. 24, 2020, shows an Apple store in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Apple Inc.’s Siri is being criticized for describing Korea as “the Korean peninsula in modern history, or Joseon under the Japanese empire.”
The Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK), a South Korean civic organization, revealed that asking the virtual assistant about Korea returns the aforementioned response.
“Korea is a region located in East Asia or a constitutional state, which refers to the Korean peninsula in modern history, or Joseon under the Japanese empire,” Siri said.
Apple claimed that the description was based on Wikipedia. Wikipedia, however, provided a completely different description.
“Today, Korea refers to the Republic of Korea or the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the Korean peninsula or the Joseon peninsula. Normally, ‘Korea’ refers to South Korea, and ‘Joseon’ refers to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” is the description provided by Wikipedia.
“Korea’s modern history begins on August 15, 1945. Siri’s description wrongly implies that Korea has been under Japanese rule even after achieving independence,” VANK said.
VANK sent a letter of petition to Apple and started a campaign to round up supporters for the initiative.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
