Strategic importance of South Korea emphasized with "east up" map

submitted 5 months ago by

https://media.piefed.social/posts/LC/sI/LCsI8ouSAk6chdI.jpeg

Map showing East Asia centred on South Korea, showing distances between Seoul and capitals of other countries in the region. Oriented so that east is at the top.

https://mastodon.social/@thejapantimes/115577125667963390

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/19/asia-pacific/south-korea-us-alliance-china/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon

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Obi@sopuli.xyz

5 months ago

I fail to understand what inverting the map achieved here.

volvoxvsmarla@sopuli.xyz

5 months ago

I have to admit it did a lot for me and I can’t believe I am saying that. But I literally just looked at this map for two minutes, trying to figure out what it was that caught me off guard.

Maybe inverting made South Korea look less like a peninsula “down there, hanging”, and more like something “up there, that people want to climb”?

Maybe it’s because I am not used to seeing this orientation and it’s refreshing and hence I look at it more closely than subconsciously thinking “meh I know what countries there are and what’s depicted”?

Like, this shouldn’t make sense, it should not make a difference, why does it make a difference to me, I don’t get it.