A Korean bee farmer was stung over 200 times in a puzzling statement of protest over Japanese claims to the Dokdo/Takeshima Islands:
“The honeybee dares to abandon its life when enemies are attempting to attack, to protect its own home. From now on, I hope these bees will contribute to protect our Dokdo”, Ahn Sang-Gyu said.
An impressive feat, not to mention a very creative way to attract attention to the issue.
While it can’t really be considered a “beard” of bees, the sheer number and weight of the bees beats out Grandpa Simpson‘s old fictional record of 15 pounds. Since Ahn wore a “symbolic” 187,000 bees, that means his bee suit weighed in at 41.1 pounds, assuming an average weight of 100mg per honeybee.
UPDATE: WOAH – this story is way cooler than I imagined – this guy wasn’t just standing around in a bee suit – he did a full-on cannonball on the Japanese flag covered in bees!
DOUBLE UPDATE: This guy is the world record holder for bee beards, so basically he decided to cheapen his accomplishment by rehashing the act to attach a small-minded political agenda to it. Way to go, chump. You’ll regret that on your deathbed, at which time ocean levels will have risen to the point that Dokdo no longer exists.
Update by Mutantfrog:I found a video clip of this online. Enjoy everyone!
This Japanese blog that also linked to the video has a little more to say.
* He first stood on a scale model of Dokdo and stripped off his outer hanbuk and stood in place for two hours so the bees could settle in place, and then jumped from a 60cm high platform onto a Japanese Hi no Maru flag that was laid out on the ground, so that the bees would “attack” it.
* The 187,000 bees represent the cumultative 187,453 square meter total of the Dokdo islands.
* He was stung in over 200 places, but isn’t allergic and the pain has faded in the 2 days since the stunt.
* He said, “No matter how much it hurts, I will not run from Japan’s provocation,” and “I wanted to show that not jus the people of Korea, but also the bees are angry.”
This guy was the Daily Show’s “Moment of Zen” last night. It’s really weird to see it all in motion. The show re-reruns tonight at 8:00 on Comedy Central, so if you wanna see it in motion catch the last 5 minutes.
Is this the way to show your anger? There r many other alternatives.Some people r crazy and weird, just hard to understand. How u could inflict your own body with such pain? Weirdo!
“You’ll regret that on your deathbed, at which time ocean levels will have risen to the point that Dokdo no longer exists.”
Which time ocean levels will have risen to the point …..also the J-land, or so called islands, no loger exists.
Mt. Fuji start to erupt as you might notice. Times has come.
See, all Korea’s problems will be solved by global warming… HENCE this guy didn’t need to wear bees.
Japan will build an incredible system of coastal dikes to keep the floodwaters out. Why do you think they’ve been honing their concrete industry all these decades? The whole mobbed-up corrupt officials thing was just a convenient cover story.
Is this the way to find a solution to a problem? How u could get ourself stunged by bees? Ohh there is no need to do all this. U crazy man!
Will this crazy act would be able to solve Korea’s problems? Should find some other way out. Even an mosquito bite creates lot of itching. Ohh my God they r bees!
I’ve seen crazier. These are the people that get remembered in history. Like in India, where a monk burned himself to death in front of everyone, to protest. In China, where a single person stood in front of three tanks coming toward him, to protest.