North and South Korea.
Whenever we hear of Korean anything, the assumption is that they are referring to South Korea (technology, automobiles, industry etc). The North Koreans are like that shady coworker who didn't pitch in for the office gift but insists on signing their name to the card. Crazy.

Some Koreans have claimed that the real purpose of General Sherman was to seek treasures buried in the royal tombs near Pyongyang. Onboard the ship was a Chinese inspector of gold and silver, whose presence can only be explained by the fact that the General Sherman was planning for burglary of precious metals from a king's tomb near Pyongyang. The ship didn't even have proper records of the items listed for trade, pointing to an ulterior motive. Another supporting factor of this claim is that Robert Jermain Thomas, the ship's interpreter, asked a Korean undercover officer about whereabouts of a white pagoda, which is usually associated with worship. However, in China, it was believed that the royal coffins in the tombs of Pyongyang, where more than one dynasty of Korea lay buried, were of solid gold, and after the departure of General Sherman to Korea, it was rumored among Westerners in China that General Sherman's expedition had something to do with these treasures.

The Koreans believed the use of an armed metal-hull gunboat was suspicious in a mission simply for trade. Even among Westerners residing in China, there were concerns regarding General Sherman being heavily armed. It was well known that two months prior to the General Sherman incident, an armed vessel captained by Ernst Oppert, a German, had visited Korea and made the same demand for trade. Trade had been refused, but Oppert and his crewmen had been well treated and returned to China safely. Oppert returned to Korea in the Emperor, which steamed up the Han River near Seoul on the same day that General Sherman left Chefoo. Oppert's request for trade was denied and he returned to China without incident. Surprise, an American ship, had been shipwrecked in Chulsan, in Pyong-an Province, on 24 June 1866. The crew was not harmed and was sent to China by Governor Park Gyu-su, the same official in charge during the General Sherman incident.

Beginning in the late 1960s, North Korea's government historians began to claim the attack on General Sherman was planned and led by Kim Hyong-jik, a direct ancestor of North Korean president Kim Il-sung. The claim has no confirmation in historical records but is still being repeated in North Korean publications, including textbooks. In 2006, North Korea issued a postage stamp commemorating the sinking of the merchant vessel.