Seoul, June 23 (IANS) Back in April 1920 when Korea was under Japanese occupation, one of its oldest newspapers - 'The Dong-A Ilbo' that has a vibrant press museum now - took birth.

On the pages of its first four-page edition was a beautiful poem by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, calling Korea the 'Lamp of the East' -- words that gave hope to an East Asian country that few knew would become synonymous with success.

The short quatrain reads: "In the golden age of Asia, Korea was one of its lamp bearers, and that lamp is waiting to be lit once again, for the illumination of the East."

Tagore's words remind one of the troubled, colonial past both Korea and India share, at the hands of different rulers.