BANGKOK -- By distorting the historical record between Korea and China, Beijing has created a crisis that has united the ruling party in Seoul and its sometimes disloyal opposition.

A firestorm erupted after a new series of books and articles known as the "Northeastern Project" asserted that much of Korea's ancient history began in China. The fact that there was geographic overlapping of two Korean kingdoms with northeastern China has been used to assert that they were part of China's ancient history. These claims have inspired vigorous protests from all South Korea's political parties and from many of those in the academic community.

This is not the first time that Koreans have been so confronted. Historical lines were blurred in a similar way in 2004. Then, officials in Seoul issued an official objection when learned Korean societies demanded that Beijing put the kingdom of Koguryo in proper historical perspective. In August 2004, the Chinese government promised verbally not to repeat such misrepresentations.