Popular cartoonist and author Rhie talks about writing overviews of world history According to ancient Greek sage Thales , the hardest thing is to know yourself and the easiest to advise others . Perhaps it is a certain cartoonist of the 21 st century who best follows the drift of what the ancient sage tried to impart . Rhie Won - bok , a famous cartoonist and author , has a world view resembling that of Thales . The writer of the series “ The Foreign and Neighbor Countries ” ― the 23 - year - old steady - seller that covers a comprehensive history of six European countries as well as Japan , the United States , China , and Korea ― says that writing about Korea was his toughest task . But he found it relatively easy to write about other countries . Prof . Rhie Won - bok works on his “ China ” series comic strip for a newspaper in his workroom . ( Park Hae - mook / The Korea Herald ) Each part of his sweeping series starts by tackling what he calls the ‘ Achilles ’ tendon ’ of a country , then moves to the unraveling of a country ’ s deeply - rooted ideologies and its connections to modern society . But don ’ t get it wrong , his books are not dull compilations of historical facts ; they are complimented with the genuine , soft touches of his illustrated cartoons . He says the logic behind his comprehensive interpretation of various countries is simple . He takes their history as a puzzle ― with different interconnected pieces . “ How are we to divide each and every sector of world history into every single national history ? ” he said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald . “ All history is linked by one context . ” A full set of 13 comic books on the world history , “ The Foreign and Neighboring Countries , ” written and drawn by Rhie Won - bok Rhie noted that the 18 th century London Treaty and the American Civil War were closely related . According to his writing , Napoleon ’ s nationalism in the 18 th century influenced the Americans and led to the Civil War . Watching the forest rather than one tree is essential in the world view he tries to portray in his books . However , some critics point out that his excessively broad interpretation of historical events could lead to hasty generalizations . “ I understand the criticism that my view - point can be faulty , but if I pursued ‘ perfection , ’ then I would not be able to write anything at all , ” he explained . “ What I write about is a certain tendency of a country , not a definition of a country itself . ” When he writes about a country , he starts with one talking point . “ For France , streaming up from Descartes , there is civil democracy , individualism and humanism . As for England , the key point is a dual power structure . Dig down further and you will wonder how this was possible , then we find out that it was so because England is an island just like Japan . ” The German reunification is rooted in the admiration of the Roman Empire . “ I try to find a code from which to discover historical connections one by one , and that becomes the story . ” Had his broad world view been overslaught yet ? Yes , in his U . S . series , he touched issues about Jews . They were depicted to hold various positions everywhere in the country and pose a tough rivalry against Korean Americans . A strong complaint from the United States made him immediately take out the entire Jewish reference from the English version of his U . S . series . “ That exactly shows the code of the Americans ― they only like to hear what they like to hear . I ’ m not saying that ’ s good or bad , but it ’ s their inherent code . I learned from the experience that even ‘ talking about ’ Jewish people is sort of a taboo there . ” Ironically , the second complaint was related to the book on Korea . He was criticized as being a pro - Japanese writer , though he said he just tried to describe the Japanese colonial period from a more ‘ objective ’ point of view . He dismissed the criticism and was rather pleased with such response to his book . “ I tried to keep my balance , so I didn ’ t want to lean toward nationalism . The accusations of me being a pro - Japanese are a reflection that I pointed out the facts objectively , ” he said . “ It is not too much to say that I wrote about other countries to eventually write objectively about Korea . “ I try my best not to be stereotypical about a country . I simply don ’ t learn or research about it before I go and watch it . Reading and researching will likely cement my own stereotypes about that country , so I just go and experience it to finalize my thoughts about the facts . ” He compared the steady popularity of his books to the recent best sellers of Jang Ha - joon ’ s books . “ People have been talking about only the bright side of capitalism . But since Jang has exposed the dark side , people can get the whole picture of capitalism . Likewise , everything should be complementary . So my books about foreign countries written with such belief should give a more objectified view . ” He thinks that it is important for countries to understand and admit their Achilles ’ tendons , rather than try to deny them : “ For Korea , the Japanese colonial rule is part of the history it wants to erase from memory . For Germany , it ’ s the Nazi dictatorship and Holocaust , For the French , it ’ s the Algeria War ; For the United States it ’ s the Vietnam war , the first war they have lost . ” Rhie cited the emergence of a ‘ global era ’ and the collapse of ‘ nationalism ’ as two of the key events in modern history , “ The world is shedding racial distinction and borders . Where you reside is your hometown . Nationality does not hold much meaning anymore . “ We are living in a global village , and it is important to keep up with its trend . ” Rhie suggested that the younger generation should travel abroad to widen their scope of thought . “ It will be a great asset to Korea if international students came to Korea and go back to their countries as supporters of Korea , ” he added . By Hwang Jurie ( jurie 777 @ heraldm . com )