Korean Government Responds to MacArthur Controversy

The Korean government has responded to the MacArthur statue controversy in Inchon:

South Korea’s presidential office expressed “serious concern” over a violent protest by anti-American activists seeking to demolish a statue of US war hero Douglas MacArthur.

“We express serious concern at violence yesterday over the statue of General MacArthur,” the office said in a statement.

“Such an illegal attempt to demolish the statue is not good for friendly relations between South Korea and the United States.”

Here is more from the Chosun:

The meeting chaired by presidential Chief of Staff Lee Byung-wan expressed concern that calls to take down the statue have turned violent. “An illegal attempt to pull the statue down would not only be of no help to the Korea-U.S. relationship, but would run counter to a mature historical understanding in our society,” spokesman Choi In-ho said. “President Roh Moo-hyun recently said the statue must not be pulled down, and to do so would not reflect the wisdom needed to live in the modern world.”

President Roh says one thing and then a member of his political party says this:

Ruling party lawmakers were split. Uri Party standing committee member Chang Young-dal told a meeting of legislators the people calling for the removal of the statue revealed a “deep ethnic purity” and warned the party to watch out for “ultra-rightists” latching on to the statue issue to band together and ratchet up tensions.

What the heck is a “deep ethnic purity”? Is he suggesting that foreigners should not be welcomed in Korea? Is there any doubt that these groups protesting and causing violence are in fact hate groups when you read statements like “deep ethnic purity”. It almost sounds like something Hitler would of said.

The Korean government is not the only ones responding to the MacArthur controversy:

The confrontation is, however, expected to last for a while because a conservative group is scheduled to hold a “Great Meeting for a Resolution to Keep National Security and the Statue of MacArthur,” on September 15. Up to 20,000 members are expected to attend.

(…)

Yu, president of the Hwanghaedo Society, said, “The statue of MacArthur was built by the donations of Incheon people who wanted to remember the Incheon landings that preempted North Korea’s greedy intention to communize the entire Korean Peninsula,” adding, “The R.O.K Marine Corps Veterans Association’s 16 local offices will protect the statue until the end of this year.”

That would be quite impressive if the pro-American groups can turn out 20,000 people. Also I got a word of advice for those hate groups out there; I wouldn’t mess with the ROK Marines guarding the statue.

Here are the statements of the leadership of Inchon:

Rep. Han Kwang-won, whose constituency includes Freedom Park, said, “The statue was erected with donations from Incheon residents… If you are truly progressive, you must think about why MacArthur is a hero in the hearts of your elders and why he’s become a symbol of Incheon.”

(…)

Incheon mayor Ahn Sang-soo told a press conference pulling the statue down or moving it elsewhere would not help the interests of the city or the nation. He also urged “outsiders” to stop making trouble in his city.

The good mayor is absolutely right. Outsiders are the ones causing the trouble in Inchon. The people of Inchon actually take pride in the MacArthur statue. I have spent a considerable amount of time in Inchon for various reasons and I feel confident in saying that the people of Inchon are not anti-American. So these hate groups should not reflect poorly on the citizens of Inchon because they are generally very welcoming of foreigners due to their long history as a city of international trade.

If the people of the city approve of the statue and the local government supports it as well then what business do these hate groups have in causing violence and smearing the good name of the city of Inchon? The easy answer is that the police need to arrest these people and lock them up and hand out stiff fines. These idiots will continue conducting these attacks as long as they are not arrested.

This is amazing that a statement like this came from the Korea Times:

It is impossible to imagine that we can enjoy the freedom of life as we do now if the South were communized by the North aided by China and the former Soviet Union. Even though we lived under suppression from authoritarian rulers of the past, it was no worse than what the people in the North have been suffering since the division of the peninsula. Nobody can deny that the North is one of the most severe violators of human rights, starving many of its people to death despite enormous food aid from the international community.

The Korea Times actually gets it right. Anyone that thinks that Korea would be better off today if the North Koreans and Chinese won the Korean War is out of their minds.