Category: Anti-American Crap

The Korean government has now responded to the Congressional letter sent to President Roh expressing the US government’s concern over the MacArthur statue controversy. From the Marmot:

Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon has sent a written response to Rep. Hyde stating the Korean government’s position not to permit the statue of Gen. MacArthur to be removed or damaged. He also mentioned that high-ranking Cheong Wa Dae officials planned to meet with those calling for the statue to be removed to explain to them the importance of the Korea-U.S. alliance and the sacrifices made by Gen. MacArthur. On a more feel-good note, he also said neither the Korean government nor the Korean people have forgotten the sacrifices made by Americans in protecting democracy in Korea, and that they remember Gen. MacArthur as a “great and brave hero of the Korean War.” He also noted that when, thanks to the North Korean nuclear issue, the importance of a strong Korean-U.S. alliance was been highlighted, he was sure that the regrettable actions of some would not influence the bilateral relationship.

I agree with the Marmot that President Roh should of been the one to have sent the response himself clearly stating the policy of the Republic of Korea. Instead President Roh has decided to have Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon to respond instead. Minister Ban is one of the good guys in the administration that actually makes an effort to get along with Americans. I can remember a few months back when he visited Camp Red Cloud to thank the soldiers there for their service in Korea. President Roh can’t even write a letter himself stating his own government’s policy much less thank 32,000 American soldiers serving in his country.

The Boston Globe has now picked up on the MacArthur controversy now as well. Really nothing new in the article but at least this issue is continuing to pick up more steam in the American press. Here is part of the article I did find interesting:

Regardless of their feelings about MacArthur, many South Koreans seem to be deeply embarrassed by the clash on Sept. 11.

The wave of anti-American demonstrations in 2002, sparked by the accidental death of two schoolgirls hit by a US military vehicle, damaged South Korea’s relations with the United States and its image abroad. Anti-Americanism is believed to be bad for business here, and many fear that a brouhaha over MacArthur will play badly with American conservatives.

I would agree that average Koreans are embarrassed by the hate groups that are causing these clashes. However, if average Koreans do not push their government to do anything about it than prepare to be really embarrassed when the Pyoengtaek land deal issue heats up. Also, why should the MacArthur controversy play badly with only American conservatives? This is not a conservative or liberal issue. This is an American issue. I would hope that liberals would agree that General MacArthur though flawed was overall a positive force for good by helping to liberate many nations from the Japanese during World War II and later defeating communist aggression in South Korea during the Korean War.

Anyway, hopefully this issue will continue to be reported, but I have a feeling that the Korean government will probably keep these hate groups quiet for a while until the American media attention passes. Not because they don’t agree with the groups, but because it’s bad for business.

The Marmot has posted a letter from the coordinator of the photo exhibit, “GIs and the Kids – A Love Story”, which was to be displayed at the War Memorial. I was actually looking forward to seeing this display when I first heard about it. Now according to the letter the exhibit has been cancelled because some General over at the War Memorial who had connections at the Blue House got the project cancelled because he thought the content would hurt Korean Pride. Or is it just another effort to rewrite history:

When an army vehicle tragically killed two Korean girls several years ago tens of thousands of Koreans marched in the streets protesting against the presence of US forces in Korea. Yet, seemingly, none of them are interested in the fact that we American GIs saved the lives of over TEN THOUSAND Korean children during the war years. The difference? One knew who the parents of the two girls were but the orphans of the war years were without lineage and not worth saving. I have been told by Korean professionals and even by Korean diplomats, that this photo exhibit is insulting to many Koreans. I have tried to get them to explain why they deem it so and it always turns out that it, indirectly, portrays their own lack of interest in and compassion for the orphans.

Some of this embarrassment was expressed publicly during the Seoul Olympics when Korea was taken to task for the export of children without lineage or of questionable lineage (over 200,000 in the last 55 years!). I feel the Korean reaction to this photo exhibit is similar. They can’t stand seeing a picture of a little Korean girl hugging a GI with affection when “proper” Koreans wouldn’t even consider having that urchin allowed in the house.

This is so ironic coming from a country that condemns the Japanese for white washing history, but Korea continues to rewrite their own history continuously. The MacArthur Statue controversy is another perfect example of this.

The fact that Korea as a society has abandoned many orphans is undeniable. Their own authors have even said so. In the book Chinatown, written by Oh Jung-hee, the author writes about her experiences as a 9 year old growing up in the Chinatown section of post war Inchon. The author in the book describes the daily life of the kids, the prostitutes wandering around Chinatown, actions of American soldiers stationed in town, and talks about what happens to orphans in Korean society. Orphans were beaten, abandoned, and scorned upon by Korean society. By the way she also liked the MacArthur Statue and the kids back then used to climb on the statue and play on it, not try to tear it down like the idiots of today.

How will Korea ever change the treatment of orphans if no one is educated about the problem? Plus the statement that Korean people will find the exhibit insulting I find particularly interesting. Does anyone worry that this whitewashing of history is insulting towards American people?

For those interested here is the link to the Korean War Children’s Memorial site.

The MacArthur Statue controversy has now taken a new twist with the US Congress now weighing in on the controversy and they are voicing their displeasure of the Korean government’s handling of this situation:

Members of the U.S. House Committee on International Relations on Thursday protested at calls in Korea to topple a statue of U.S. general Douglas MacArthur in Incheon. Their protest came in a letter to President Roh Moo-hyun signed by committee chairman Henry Hyde and others.

The letter said but for the 1950 Incheon landing led by MacArthur, the Korea of today would not exist. If attempts to damage the statue continued, it would be better to hand it over to the Americans, the signatories said.

One Free Korea has the complete scanned letter posted on his site. If a posting from One Free Korea has ever been a MUST READ!!!!! this one is it. Reading through the letter the Congressional Representatives had some really good passages that voice their displeasure. Here is one I particularly liked:

Needless to say Mr. President the Congress of the United States and the American people would never subscribe to such a description of a hero who led the allied forces which liberated the Republic of Korea twice, first from the yoke of Japanese colonialism 60 years ago this summer and secondly through the brilliant execution of the Inchon landing 55 years ago this month. Our critical bilateral alliance was forged in the crucible of Inchon. The common sacrifices, goals, and achievements which sprang out of Inchon form, in our opinion, the continuing basis for our alliance. We presume that the government of the Republic of Korea shares this view of the critical importance fo the Inchon Landing and the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur.

Reading in between the lines of this paragraph the Congressmen wanted to remind President Roh that America did in fact liberate South Korea twice and that Inchon is the symbolic representation of the liberation given to Korea through American intervention and that by denying Inchon and MacArthur you deny the US-ROK alliance as well. The last part about presuming that the Korean government shares these views is, I believe, the Congressmen trying to call President Roh’s bluff. President Roh has spoke out before that the protests are straining US-ROK relations but he has never condemned the ideology that the hate groups stand for.

It appears to me that the Congressmen want to know if President Roh believes General MacArthur is someone who helped liberate Korea or if he believes the general is a war criminal. President Roh has been trying to dodge this question because he knows MacArthur helped liberate Korea, but he doesn’t want to say it because then he would be denying the revisionists beliefs of his own political party and would give the appearance that he is giving in to American demands, which is something he has vowed not to do during his election campaign. It would be interesting to see the response to this letter; to see if President Roh actually confirms that MacArthur helped liberate Korea.

Here is another passage I thought was very well written:

In the chamber of the US House of Representatives, directly behind the speaker’s podium hang two portraits. On one side is that of a foreign friend, a soldier who came from a far to assist in the common cause of American independence. That portrait is of the Marquis de Lafayette. For more than 200 years his memory has been implanted deep in the hearts of the American people. We would hope that General MacArthur is so remembered in the hearts of the South Korean people.

I wouldn’t call Lafayette “implanted deep in the hearts of the American people”, because many Americans don’t know who he is, but many Americans do know that the French did aid the US in winning our war for independence from the British even if they don’t know the name of the Frenchmen who was a trusted friend and officer for George Washington’s Continental Army. However, people that do study history and know who Lafayette was cannot deny that he and the other Frenchmen who came to America to fight the British were directly responsible in helping the US colonies achieve independence no matter what the current bilateral relationship between the two countries stands at today.

I tend to think that the Statue of Liberty stands as another great example of the US appreciating the shared history between the US and France. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France that reprents the friendship between the two countries that was originally forged in blood, just like the US-ROK alliance. No one would ever dream of tearing down the Statue of Liberty to deny this shared history due to poor bilateral relations today.

I want to clarify that I think these hate groups can protest all they want but they don’t have the right to assault people and destroy property and get away with it. I also think that when they spread blatant lies and propaganda concerning the shared history of the US and Korea, that the Korean government has a responsibility to state their stance to something that clearly effects the very credibility of the US-ROK alliance. When the government doesn’t voice strong opposition to these hate groups it only gives these people more credibility with the public and encouragement to continue their violent activities.

So on this note, I have to dispute the Marmot’s belief that the MacArthur statue controversy is a domestic debate within Korea that the US Congress shouldn’t have intervened in. I tend to think that if the Korean government would have clearly stated their opposition to the hate groups from the beginning instead of making vague statements and arrested those that provoked violence and property damage, then the US Congress would have never gotten involved in the controversy to begin with.

With the Korean government taking no firm action and with the Pyongtaek land deal issue to relocate US forces away from the DMZ still waiting to be completed due to anti-American protests, I believe the Congressmen felt they had to make a stand on this issue to test the resolve of the Korean government to defend the US-ROK alliance. So as I stated before, the focus of the Congressional letter when you read between the lines is not really addressing the physical well being of the statue; it is addressing what the statue represents. Does the Korean government believe in the US-ROK alliance and are they willing to really publicly defend it?

If the Korean government is not willing to strongly defend what MacArthur represents then why should the US government believe that Korea would support the US in the up coming land deal in Pyeongtaek or more importantly with any hostilities with the North Koreans? Especially with the nuclear crisis still brewing. This is what makes the MacArthur statue more than just a Korean domestic matter. It is a test of the resolve of the Korean government to continue the US-ROK alliance in it’s current form. Or am I reading to much into this and the Congressmen just want a new statue to put up at the US Capitol building? Well, you be the judge.

With this in mind, I have to give huge props to the House International Relations Committee for finally standing up against the ridiculous disinformation, violence, and anti-Americanism being preached by the hate groups here which the Korean government does little to respond to.

Here is a list of the Congressmen responsible for the letter. If you are from their district I encourage you to drop them e-mail on their site thanking them for speaking out on this issue:

Henry Hyde (R-IL): Chairman of House International Relations Committee

Dana Rohrabacher (D-CA)

Ed Royce (R-CA)

Joseph Crowley (D-NY)

Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa)

Veterans and retirees of the ROK Marine Corps turned out in force to commemorate General Douglas MacArthur at Inchon’s Freedom Park:

Marine Corps Veterans Association president Kim Myung-hwan told the rally attended by more than 3,000 veterans and others from across the country, “We cannot remain silent on calls for the removal of the MacArthur statue. Now Marine Corps veterans have to step forward.”

“The General MacArthur statue is an expression of our gratitude to the countries that participated in the Korean War,” said former defense minister Kim Sung-eun. “The reality is indeed so upsetting that it impels us to hold such a rally.”

Clad in Marine Corps uniforms and wearing red caps, the veterans waved Korean and American national flags and shouted such slogans as “Right!” and “Let’s Safeguard the Korea-U.S. alliance,” while listening to speeches. The rally site was filled with placards, some of which read, “Let’s decisively cope with anti-American and pro-North Korean forces that turn the cold shoulder to our national interests,” and, “Let’s leave to our posterity the fatherland we have defended with blood and sweat.”

I think it is great that these veterans are turning out and voicing their strong support of General MacArthur and the US-ROK alliance. However, I would like to see more average Koreans out defending the statue. Pictures of these older ROK Marine Corps veterans in uniform will not do much to sway public opinion here in Korea against the hate groups. Many people in Korea dislike the military as much as they dislike the hate groups.

ROK Veterans battle anti-US leftists in the streets of Inchon. 

The mayor of Inchon is the man that may be able be mobilize real public opinion against the hate groups:

At another ceremony celebrating the same occasion at the Incheon Landing Memorial in the morning, Incheon mayor Ahn Sang-soo said, “Assertions to remove the MacArthur statue are of help at all to the unification and prosperity of the nation.” The 2.65 million Incheon citizens will defend the MacArthur statue, added Ahn.

If the good mayor was able to mobilize a massive rally against the hate groups then that would clearly show the resolve of the citizens of Inchon. If not then the hate groups will continue to show up and cause problems to further try to cause a wedge between the US and Korean governments on this issue.

Of course the Marmot has outstanding coverage on this issue as well that you should check out.

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.

 This is how 9/11 is remembered in South Korea:

Useful Idiots out in force in Inchon protesting the MacArthur Statue.

Riot police playing king of the hill by holding the high ground against the hate group protesters wielding bamboo poles trying to tear down the MacArthur Statue.

This is the scene from yesterday’s anti-American hate fest in Inchon. Notice that the hate groups are using the same tactics they used in Pyongtaek, a frontal assault with bamboo poles and metal pipes. This is what the Chosun Ilbo had to say about the protest:

Dozens were injured when groups calling for the removal of a statue of U.S. general Douglas MacArthur clashed with police in Incheon’s Freedom Park on Sunday. The clashes came four days ahead of the 55th anniversary of the Incheon Landing of UN forces led by MacArthur that marked a turning point in the Korean War.

Some 4,000 members of progressive groups who had gathered in Sungeui Stadium in Incheon’s Nam-gu started marching on the park at 1 p.m. to demand the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Korea and the removal of the monument to the U.S. general from Freedom Park.

Here is my first point of contention with the Chosun article; they try to make it out that this protest was held on Sunday because the 15th is the 55th anniversary of the Inchon Landing. This is incorrect. The hate groups specifically held it on the anniversary of 9/11 to rub it in the USA’s face the terrorist attack that killed 3,000 Americans. My second point of contention is that the newspaper dignifies these people by calling them a “progressive group”. They are a hate group. If you exchanged the words they say about Americans to Koreans the media would have no qualms calling them a racist hate group. If tomorrow I had a protest demanding that every statue in tribute to Koreans in America should be torn down, my group would be labeled a hate group. These people are no different. Call them what they are, they hate Americans.

Here is another example of how out of hand this is getting. Some of you may remember this picture from July’s hate fest at Camp Humphreys:

At the Inchon protest, children were once again subject to violence:

Here is a quote I had to chuckle at when I read it:

The park resembled a battlefield littered with branches, dirt, eggs, torn-up paper and the blood of the wounded. Police had deployed no fewer than 38 companies of riot police — about 3,800 men — and 78 transport vehicles, but they were unable to stop the violence and earned complaints from protesters for hurling stones.

The protesters are complaining that the riot police threw stones at them when they are attacking the police with bamboo poles, metal pipes, and rocks? I guess they are just supposed to stand there and take a beating from these idiots.

Is this Inchon or New Orleans?

Overall though, this protest was unsuccessful in creating the huge anti-American movement they hoped to create. In fact now more pro-American Koreans are mobilizing against the hate groups:

From the Chosun:

Earlier, some 1,000 members of conservative groups rallied at Inseong Girls High School near the Park to defend the statue of a man they see as a hero of the Korean War. At 4 p.m., they too entered Freedom Park with the intent of burning North Korean flags, throwing stones and eggs, and stopping the progressive groups from entering the park, but were stopped by police.

From the Joong Ang Ilbo:

On Thursday, more than 10,000 conservative activists including former marines will gather for a rally to protect the statue. “After the rally, we will take a turn to guard the statue on our own,” a representative of the Marine Corps Veterans Association said.

In the coming days we will see what the pro-American groups do in response to the hate groups. However, the true show down will be in Pyongtaek when the land is forcibly removed from the last few farmers still holding out and preventing the USFK from relocating soldiers there from Yongsan and the DMZ areas. This was just another warm up for the upcoming hate fest Super Bowl coming up this winter. And finally I will pose the question of why these people of continually beat, assault, and injure Korean policemen are not in jail?
______________________________________

Here is the first South Korean press report on today’s anti-American hate fest at Freedom Park in Inchon were hate groups vowed to tear down a symbol of Inchon the General MacArthur statue:

(ATTN: UPDATES with reports of injuries in clashes)
INCHEON, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) — Hundreds of anti-U.S. protesters clashed with riot police Sunday as they marched tried to march onto a public park in South Korea’s western port city of Incheon where a statue of U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur stands.

The protesters were part of 4,000 leftist activists who staged street demonstrations earlier in the day, demanding the removal of the statue which they argued hinders inter-Korean reconciliation and unification.

They think MacArthur’s statue hinders reunification? There idiot policy of providing nearly unmonitored food aid to North Korea that goes directly to the North Korean military has done more to hinder reunification than MacArthur’s statue. I guess they think if a Kim Il Sung statue sat there instead reunification will come quicker.

There are reports of injuries. Hopefully the injuries are not of the riot police that have to continuously put up with the violence from these hate groups. I’m sure there will be more updates on this in the morning.

In preperation for the anti-American hatefest tomorrow at Freedom Park in Inchon, anti-American Korean folk singer Park Seong-hwan has released his latest hate song:

The song blames MacArthur for the massacre of Korean civilians in Jeju Island on April 3, 1948 and the slaughter of civilians at Nogeun-ri during the Korean War. It joins calls for the statue to be pulled down.

“I released the song ahead of protests planned for Sunday calling for the statue to be removed,” singer Park Seong-hwan told the Chosun Ilbo on Friday. “I wanted to teach people about the side of MacArthur ordinary people don’t know about.”

Asked if the lyrics might be too radical, Park said, “MacArthur is a war criminal who directly ordered massacres of civilians… As UN commander at the time, there are things he must take responsibility for.”

Between verses two and three, Park adds his own narration. “Seize Seoul. There are girls and ladies there. For three days, Seoul will be yours — UN Commander Douglas MacArthur, September 1950.” Park says historical records confirm that this is an authentic quote by the maverick commander.

Of course it isn’t an actual quote but if you repeat the lie enough times people will believe it. You see that tactic used over and over again here in Korea in regards to rewriting history. If you blame America and in this case MacArthur for every bad thing that has happened in Korean history over and over it becomes imbedded in the minds of the citizens here.

It isn’t just the hate groups that do this either. The Korean government as well, are masters at this tactic led none other by the master history distorter Unification Minister Chung Dong-young.

The Korean media is also well versed in this tactic. A perfect example of this is that the Korean media continuously pushes the notion that GI’s that commit crimes in Korea and not prosecuted in Korean courts because of the SOFA agreement, even though there are plenty of GI’s sitting in Korean prisons today that were prosecuted and sentenced in Korean courts.

So the rewriting of history by useful idiots such as Park Seong-hwan continues to be a extremely effective tactic by the North Koreans and their sympathisers who are behind many of these hate groups that preach anti-Americanism.

Here are some more good links to check out about the current General MacArthur controversy:

One Free Korea

Korea Sojourner

About Joel

Anti-American hate groups are holding a protest Sunday demanding the removal of the General MacArthur statue located in Freedom Park in Inchon. This park has been the scene of prior protests for and against the statue and looks to be a battle ground again this weekend:

Civic groups calling for the removal of the statue will rally at 3 p.m. Sunday to demand an end “to 60 years of U.S. occupation and the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Korea.” Organizers have notified the authorities of some 3,000 participants, but the groups’ membership is nearer 10,000. The groups reportedly chose Sunday, Sept. 11, because it coincides with the anniversary of terrorist attacks on New York in 2001.

It is just sickening to me that these protesters would use September 11th as a date to push their anti-American agenda. I hope the US media picks up on this. This story is slowly gaining steam in the US media and may be the reason why the anti-US group leader has been brought in by the police for questioning. The Korean government may now be fearing the backlash not of the US government, but of the US consumer if these protests make waves in the US media. Could you imagine the reaction of the American public if the US media broadcast the vile garbage coming from these people on the anniversary of September 11th? I doubt to many people would be buying a Hyundai after that and the Korean government knows it.

Some other Koreans know it to but they are not defending the statue because of Hyundai sales but because they believe in General MacArthur and America:

Defenders of the statue will demonstrate from 1 p.m. that same day, with about 200 people expected to take part. The Hwanghae Province Residents Association, one of the groups involved, changed the venue from the park to nearby Inseong Girls’ High School at the suggestion of police, who are concerned about a possible clash. But it said the groups could move on to Freedom Park depending on the situation. A spokesman from the group said one of the anti-MacArthur groups, “is even talking about forming an advance team and trying to pull the statue down with chains and ropes… We can’t just stand by and watch.”

They won’t be able to pull that statue down because there are riot police protecting the statue around the clock. However, it is still sad that riot police should have to protect this statue to begin with. No matter what the US public’s feelings towards the French may be, you will never see Americans demanding that the Statue of Liberty be torn down.

You might not want to head over to Camp Humphreys on Saturday:

South Korean civic groups are banding together to press the U.S. military to deny a request from a U.S. Air Force lieutenant charged in an alleged shakedown of bars outside Osan Air Base to resign and avoid court-martial, a civic leader said Monday.

The groups will use a “big demonstration” planned for Saturday outside Camp Humphreys to highlight their concerns over the case of 1st Lt. Jason D. Davis and say they’ll mount larger rallies later if the Air Force allows Davis to resign, said Kim Yong-han, president of the Task Force To Oppose The Expansion of U.S. Bases in Pyeongtaek.

You may remember that 1LT Davis was in charge of the Osan town patrol and was allegedly shaking down bar owners for money and sex and along with other strange behavior. He also has a Korean weapons charge violation hanging against him too that the protesters hope to cash in on:

Activists also have written to the South Korean Ministry of Justice asking that if the Air Force allows Davis to resign that South Korean authorities bar him from leaving the country so they can prosecute him on weapons charges they previously have said they’re considering.

I find it interesting that these “civic groups” act like they are the ones that determine who gets charged with what crimes. It does seem that way after the driver of the fatal traffic accident in Dongducheon this past June was charged by the Korean police after the activists demanded it and USFK is actually thinking about turning the kid over. It would be a shame if they do.

However, as much as 1LT Davis deserves to be turned over to the Koreans, USFK shouldn’t turn him over either because then the activists would demand that every soldier on duty be turned over to the South Korean courts. It would be a bad precedence to set. He should be turned over for any crimes he did commit off duty which I fully expect USFK to do. As far as 1LT Davis’s attempt to resign his commission, I just don’t see that happening. He will stand trial and be punished for whatever he did.

Here is some more info on Saturday’s protest:

Saturday’s demonstration is set for 3 p.m. in Daechu-ri, a tract of farmland just outside Camp Humphreys, which is in the Anjung-ri section of Pyeongtaek City.

The rally originally was scheduled to protest a plan between the United States and South Korea under which U.S. forces in Seoul and points north would move south, mainly to Camp Humphreys. The plan would see Camp Humphreys triple in size by 2008.

Notice that the protesters are returning to the adjacent farm land around Camp Humphreys to protest because the business owners in Anjung-ri do not want the protesters in their town. I would expect that the protesters will resort to violence like they did during the July 10th protest. So unless you absolutely have to go to Camp Humphrey’s Saturday it would be in your best interest to avoid the place all together.

The South Korean Defense Minister defends the MacArthur statue in Incheon:

On his one-year anniversary as the head of the Defense Ministry, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung publicly opposed yesterday the removal of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur’s statue from Incheon’s Freedom Park.

He also worried over certain civic groups’ “unreasonable and inappropriate” rallies to remove the statue. “The statue of General Douglas MacArthur was erected with money donated by the residents of Incheon to commemorate the general’s feat during the Korean War,” Mr. Yoon said at a gathering of the ministry’s top-level officers. “The request for removal of the statue will cause confusion to the values Koreans share and will scar professional soldiers in Korea.”

Good to see Minister Yoon defend the statue. Now if only President Roh would do the same.

Some retired Korean generals are also defending the statue:

… around 120 retired generals rallied yesterday in front of the statue at Freedom Park, saying they will take any measure to protect the statue of General MacArthur.

I have always maintained that the Korean and US militaries have always gotten along well, it is at the political level where all the problems in the ROK-US alliance reside. The MacArthur statue controversy tends to reinforce that belief because the ROK military has taken a stand on this issue yet the leading politicians have yet to weigh in. Where is the leadership in this country?