Category: Anti-American Crap

Now my big question is, is this garbage being taught to South Korean students?:

Materials show that the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union excerpted a North Korean history textbook verbatim to write more than two-thirds of a 92-page long booklet without disclosing the source. It was then used in a seminar for the members of its Busan chapter in October. The textbook was reprinted in South Korea by Ilsongjeong publishers in 1983.

The booklet reproduces North Korea¿s tall claims for the late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung¿s anti-Japanese activities during the Japanese colonial era and describes the Korean War as a ¿struggle to liberate the motherland.¿ Quoting a U.S-based sociologist, it also hails North Korean leader Kim Jong-il¿s Songun or military-first policy as a ¿unique achievement.¿

Je Seong-ho, a law professor at JoongAng University, said the materials are illegal under the National Security Law since they deny the historical views of South Korea while promoting the North¿s perspective. More worryingly, teachers thus instructed could pass on these warped views to impressionable students.

Anyone think President Roh will make any statements condemning the teacher’s union? I don’t think so he is to busy bashing the US again:

¿Are any ministers here who say the U.S. made a mistake going to be reprimanded at the National Assembly?¿ Roh continued. ¿Are you saying we should suffocate Pyongyang? Do you think that the U.S. is a country without fault? Do you believe that we should always keep quiet when the U.S. makes a mistake?¿ The president urged ministers to voice their conviction when answering lawmakers at the National Assembly, saying, ¿Ministers are supposed to speak straight from their own convictions.¿ The remarks come amid a widening gulf between Korea and its long-term ally over additional sanctions Washington wants to impose on the North. Roh has rarely made a secret of his critical attitude to the U.S., saying during his election campaign in 2002, ¿I don¿t go to the U.S. just to take a picture with the president there¿ and asking in yet another rhetorical question, ¿What¿s wrong with anti-Americanism?¿

It just seems this guy is on a mission to make his legacy as ROK President as the guy who ended the Korea-US alliance. I guess he thinks this will be a good thing to be remember for in Korea, but I tend to think that history will judge otherwise.

Big hat tip to Nomad for pointing out this classic piece of journalism from Oh My News. I have always maintained that Oh My News is way left wing in their writing but this article is just plain kooky. At Camp Humphreys located in Pyeongtaek, South Korea; they have a radar dome that towers over the base because the camp is home to a major airfield shared by both the US and Korean militaries. The Oh My News “reporter” speculates that the radar is actually part of a sinister super secret US “Orwellian” plan to rule the world:

“Its been there about seven or eight years. We have no idea what it is; we just thought it might be a water tank or something. People have said is an oil tank, or some kind of antenna. But why should we even bother to try to figure it out. Isn’t it easier if we just consider it as a big ball? I like it because it makes the scene of our village very familiar from a distance.”

A titan standing 30 meters tall, the “ball” is about eight years old. For the residents living near the field of Daechu-ri, located in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, their lives have revolved around a mysterious ball mounted in the sky, all the while never knowing exactly what it is.

(…)

“Right now, somebody is watching your every movement.” This may sound like something from a science-fiction movies, but instead, it’s real.

In the greatest surveillance effort ever made, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) created a global spy system — codename ECHELON — which captures and analyzes virtually every phone call, fax, email and telex message sent anywhere in the world. ECHELON is controlled by the NSA and operated in conjunction with the Government Communications Head Quarters (GCHQ) of England, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) of Canada, the Australian Defense Security Directorate (DSD), and the General Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) of New Zealand. These organizations are bound together under a secret 1948 agreement, UKUSA, whose terms and text remain under wraps even today.

I wonder if this super secret 007 golf ball is manned by Elvis and Bigfoot? That is just about as credible a theory as the one put forth by Oh My News. What’s next, an article on the Indianhead statue in front of Camp Casey is actually a US homing beacon for UFO’s to land on the camp and dump flemeldahyde into doo-doo creek thus creating the Lochness Monster of Dongducheon? Just when you thought journalism in Korea couldn’t get any worse, it does. Well it’s good that the “reporter” at least has some serious photographic talent because the pictures in the article are quite good. However, he is going to need that photographic talent in the future because he sure isn’t going to make it as an investigative journalist for much longer unless he writes for the Weekly World News.

I say bring them on:

A spokesman with a coalition of activist groups earlier said it will send a group of protestors to the U.S. to thwart the negotiations. ¿We already finished the preliminary work for our rally there¿, the spokesman said. The coalition includes the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Coalition of Farmers’ Associations. ¿We are in discussions with the Democratic Labor Party to decide whether lawmakers in the party will join the protests,¿ he said.

The original plan was to dispatch a twice the number, but the coalition reportedly ran into visa problems. Among the group¿s plans is a protest on the Potomac River in Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. police are preparing to deal strictly with any illegal protests in cooperation with the Korean Embassy in the U.S. and Interpol. U.S. police have set out stringent guidelines after seeing the violent demonstrations by Korean protestors against the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Hong Kong last year, according to officials in Seoul. Police there are analyzing video clips of the demonstrations and will treat protestors as terror suspects under the U.S.¿ sweeping anti-terror laws if they are found in possession of dangerous items, National Intelligence Service officials here said.

Can you imagine what these people would do to the US public’s perceptions of Korea if they protest and attack the police with the same venom that they have used before against the Korean police in places such as Inchon over the McArthur statue and in Pyeongtaek over the Camp Humphreys expansion. The Korean government is worried about that fact:

Friday¿s government plea was issued by five ministers including Finance Minister Han Duk-soo and Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. Everyone has the right to speak their mind freely, but staging a rally in the U.S. does not help solve the problem, the statement said. Such protests by a handful of organizations could prove a stumbling block to a visa waiver for Koreans in the U.S. and thus inconvenience the entire people.

The statement warned Seoul will have very limited scope to intervene if protestors violate U.S. law.

That damn right, Seoul will not be able to intervene if these people break US law. That is why I say give them their visas and let them try to violently protest so the US courts can put these people in jail and fine them like they deserve. It would be nice if the Korean government came out as strongly against these same people violently rioting down at Camp Humphreys where they have been suspiciously silent, but the minute they talk about bringing their show on the road to the US the Korean government suddenly condemns them. Interesting.

The outrageousness of the Roh Moo-hyun government continues in Korea. The government is allowing the groups responsible for all the violence against Korean army soldiers and policemen to keep their government subsidy money:

A government committee will not halt subsidies to civic groups who were involved in illegal rallies and sometimes-violent demonstrations against government policies.
A joint committee working to promote a culture of peaceful rallying, consisting of representatives of the civic sector and the government, had a heated debate Wednesday night, and ended the meeting by postponing any plans for change.
Korean central and local governments provided subsidies last year totaling 175 billion won ($184 million) to some 19,000 civic groups, according to the Ministry of Government Affairs.
The government committee is headed jointly by Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook and Father Ham Sei-ung, a prominent figure in the civic movement.
Father Ham said, “Many members said that it is hard to tell whether a civic group’s members accidentally got involved in illegalities and violence or whether it happened under the group’s decision.”

How the hell do you accidentally do this to a policeman?:

The Korean government continues to be an absolute disgrace in their tacit support of these hate groups that attack and injure the mandatory service draftees. Surprisingly they didn’t completely sell out the police:

The committee also decided to cancel a plan to have riot police wear nametags when posted at rallies.
The plan was urged by civic groups, in a bid to keep riot police from using excessive force, by making it possible for protesters to identify abusive policemen.
However, Father Ham said, “We decided not to adopt the plan, as it could infringe on the rights of the riot policemen.”

Doesn’t bashing the police over the head with metal pipes and bamboo poles infringe on their rights as well?

The Asia Times has got it wrong beginning with the title: US Feels Sting of South Korean Priest

The US is not the ones feeling the sting of the South Korean priest, the Korean government most notably the Ministry of Defense and the 20 year old mandatory service draftees being assualted by the priests followers are. South Korea has more to lose than the US if the base consolidation plan fails. Failure of this plan would most likely mean the redeployment of at least the 2nd Infantry Division and possibly other elements of USFK. USFK has no intentions of staying in the Yongsan and 2ID footprints for much longer. The loss of USFK means the end to many USFK jobs that South Korean civilians hold along with the loss of international investment once USFK pulls out. Let’s face it, interenational investors feel much more secure in their investments when they know the US military is safeguarding it.

Here is where else the Asia Times is getting it all wrong:

“No US base,” they shout in Korean. “Save our land.”

It is a daily ritual staged in defiance of thousands of South Korean police against a plan to turn the region of rice paddies and orchards into one of America’s largest overseas bases.

The police control the countryside, blocking off traffic, but the farmers cling to this enclave of sturdy brick homes in a standoff that embarrasses the United States and South Korea – and reveals some of the weaknesses in a deteriorating alliance.

It is not the US being embarrassed here. It is the Korean government that is an embarassment. Any government that would allow young mandatory service draftees to be beaten and assaulted like the young men stationed outside Camp Humphreys regularly are is a joke. This is a perfect example of why mandatory service needs to end in Korea. If the government had to worry about reenlisting these guys, I can guarantee they wouldn’t treat them as meat to feed to the protesters to beat on.

Here is something else that really strikes a nerve with me:

The priest, Moon Jeong-hyun, 69, returned here less than a week after holding out for most of a day on the roof of the school building with nine other priests and two National Assembly members defying the riot police, who drove the activists from the building, some of them kicking and screaming.

A distinctive figure with a flowing beard, often seen holding a video camera as he records prayer meetings and confrontations, Moon and his cohorts were promised they would not be arrested before descending down a ladder from the roof on May 4.

The government let this guy go even though he broke the law. This guy is a criminal responsible for the assaults and injuries of many young police officers and soldiers. Here is another criminal that really shouldn’t surprise anyone that was also let go:

Some wonder if the South’s governing Uri Party is actually encouraging the standoff in which an assembly member from the party, Im Jung-in, is playing a leading role.

Im was up on the roof with the priests before they all came down on May 4 – and has appeared again at rallies in the village. He talks frequently on his mobile phone with party officials, and his presence in the village symbolizes support for the farmers and activists in the government.

This is just more evidence of what an embarrassment the current Korean government is. An assembly member from the ruling party is openly endorsing the assault and injury of the nation’s policemen and soldiers. What a disgrace and the Asia Times thinks the US should be embarrassed?

Oh, there is more:

“South and North Korea are reconciling with one another,” says another priest visiting the village. “We don’t need US forces in Korea at all.”

That’s a view that US officials fear may come to dominate the outlook of a South Korea government already seen as left of center as thousands of police face the unpleasant task of finally removing the diehards from their homes – and the troublesome priest from the village chapel.

I’m not sure if ass kissing and appeasement with nothing in return is really reconciliation but apparently the Korean government and the Asia Times thinks so. Also if this person is so bold to say the US is not needed in Korea than he needs to protest his local congressmen instead of attacking soldiers and police officers. Remember Korea has more to lose than US if the base consolidation plan fails.

Earlier this week, the leaders of the anti-US hate groups vowed to mobilize 10,000 people to attack the riot police protecting the annexed land for the Camp Humphreys expansion. However, possibly due to the negative reaction from the general Korean public against the violent anti-US demonstrators, the rioters were only able to mobilize 2,500 people this weekend and violence was limited:

An estimated 2,500 activists protesting the relocation of U.S. bases to Pyongtaek, Kyonggi Province, clashed with police on Sunday. However, it did not lead to the severe violence seen on May 4 when over 200 were injured.

About 1,500 members of “Hanchongnyon,¿¿ or the Confederation of Korean Students¿ Union, and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions headed to Pyongtaek early on Sunday morning for the planned rally at an elementary school in Taechu-ri, inside the Pyongtaek military site. An additional 1,000 demonstrators, mainly student activists, joined the protest in the afternoon.

The police had banned protest rallies there, saying they were likely to become violent like before.

I wonder if the threat of being arrested by military authorities had anything to do with discouraging violence?:

Using leaflets dropped from helicopters, police warned that those entering the site would be penalized. The Ministry of Defense warned earlier that even civilians would be court-martialed if they trespassed the site which had been fenced with wire-entanglements.

Above you can see the ROK Army helicopter dropping the leaflets. Here is a trivia question for the military types out there; who can name what type of helicopter this is?

OhmyNews also has more coverage on the demonstrations as well. Of course they focused more on pictures of protesting grandmas, people dressed up as peasant farmers, and the big, bad policemen keeping the farmers down, but showed very few pictures of violence from people like this:

This picture below gives everyone a good idea what a mud hole the annexed land is. It is amazing to think that by 2008, Yongsan Garrison and the 2nd Infantry Division are supposed to move on to this mud hole. Also my hat is off to the Korean policemen having to deal with these idiots in this mudhole.

The lack of violence this weekend begs the question of why? I am beginning to think that the anti-US groups were putting out that they were going to fight the police this weekend with large numbers in order to get the riot police worked up for a confrontation and to get more of them at the site. I think the protesters were hoping that the policemen would over react and severely beat them in order to turn public opinion away from the police who are now being highly supported by the general Korean public. The hate groups have been comparing themselves tp the Kwangju Massacre for the past two weeks. Nothing happened this weekend that is going to give the general Korean public any hint that another Kwangju Massacre is about to happen. First of all you need guns to do that which the police and military at the site do not have. The riot police showed much restraint in dealing with these people. It helps when they are not getting attacked by sharpened bamboo poles and metal pipes for a change.

This is still far from over and these hate groups will eventually return to violence and doing whatever they can to delay the construction of the new expanded camp. If they can delay construction long enough they hope that the US might just cancel the camp consolidation plan and pull out of Korea all together. That is the ultimate goals of these anti-US hate groups. They could care less about the Daechu-ri farmers. They are just pawns for their greater goal of removing USFK from Korea.

At least one segment of Korean society has had enough of the violence in Pyeongtaek over the Camp Humphreys expansion:

Parents of soldiers injured in clashes with protesters opposing the relocation of U.S. military installations here roundly criticized the Defense Ministry for not protecting the unarmed troops constructing fences around the base site in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province.
The violence broke out after anti-U.S. demonstrators broke through riot police lines late Friday afternoon to try to cut down the fences.
Thirty soldiers were injured, a ministry official said; five are still at a military hospital. (….)

Soldiers’ parents turned their wrath on the demonstrators as well as the ministry. “Taking away their helmets and beating up people can only mean they want to kill people. I don’t know whether what they argue for is wrong or right, but it’s hard to understand their actions,” said Lee Gyeong-suk, 45, the mother of Private Lee Kang-woo, 21, who was hit on the head with a stone in the melee.
Police said a task force of 20 officers had been formed to search for and arrest three officials of the civic groups that organized the bulk of the demonstrations around the base area.

Maybe the riot police should get their pissed off ajuma mothers into battle gear to fight these people. I am willing to bet these mothers would beat these rioters up even worse than the riot police did on Friday.

Some how I doubt the Korean Human Rights Commission will come out and demand an investigation of the protesters’ actions like they routinely do of the riot police.

I have a hard time believing this is going to happen:

South Korea’s prosecution said Saturday it will sternly deal with those who staged violent protests against a plan to expand a U.S. military base south of Seoul.

About 540 demonstrators were arrested Thursday after they clashed with riot police and soldiers who evicted them from their headquarters, an elementary school in Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers south of Seoul. Hundreds on both sides were injured.

The prosecution requested a court issue warrants to officially arrest 37 of those suspected of taking part in violent protests, said Lee Kwi-nam, head of the prosecution’s public security bureau.

If the South Korean authorities want to discourage the protesters then they need to give them all heavy fines and imprison the ring leaders.  The priest, if you can really call him that, leading these protests is still running around causing trouble.  He is the one that needs to be in jail.  However, enforcing laws is not a strong point of Korean society, especially when it comes to violently attacking 20 year old draftee policemen with metal pipes and bamboo poles like these idiot protesters have been doing.

I don’t claim to be a fortune teller, but when it comes to the anti-US hate groups their playbook is easy to decipher for those of us who have been in Korea a while and yet the Korean authorities still can’t seem to figure it out. After a successful operation that removed the anti-US protesters from the annexed land needed for the Camp Humphreys expansion project; I predicted the protesters would come right back and tear down the wire fence if it was not monitored by security guards.

What happens, the protesters come right back and tear down the fence and run wild within the perimeter and try to even break into the Camp Humphreys perimeter.

A day after the Defense Ministry forcefully evacuated protesters from an area in Pyeongtaek slated for the relocation of U.S. military installations, about 2,500 activists staged abrupt demonstrations by cutting through the fences built around the site of the future base.
About 2,000 protesters from around the nation broke through the police line to seal off the area from outsiders. They marched three hours to join about 500 other protesters who had been scouting in Daechu Village, where the base construction is slated.
The group held a rally, criticizing the Defense Ministry’s forcible eviction of residents from the site. They also cut the fences, built on Thursday after evicting the protesting activists, in 20 places.
The protesters also tried to enter Camp Humphreys, the U.S. military base in Pyeongtaek near by the site, and scuffled with police trying to block them.

If they will throw these people in jail with heavy fines for assaulting policemen and breaking the law then they would not have to worry about these repeated clashes with these hate groups. But of course as this Chosun Ilbo editorial noted, the political leadership in Korea is so weak and incompetent they in fact actually encourage the violence on one hand while saying the US-ROK alliance is important on the other.

The Pyeongtaek affair is complicated. In terms of moving a military base alone, it is a defense issue, but it is also a diplomatic issue involving our relationship with the U.S, a public security issue dealing with illegal protests and a financial issue involving an increasing tax burden. Anti-American activists are trying to turn it into an ideological struggle, calling it a “second Gwangju Democratic Uprising” after bloodily suppressed protests in 1980.

The administration and ruling party should therefore make every effort to persuade the people that relocating the bases is inevitable and to minimize problems and costs. But government and ruling-party officials, who like to take credit whenever possible, were in hiding, leaving the affair entirely to the defense minister as if he alone were responsible.

To start at the top, the president is fond of speaking to the public, with his ¿dialogue with the people,” “statement to the people” or “letter to the people.” Yet he hasn’t said a word of concern about the affair. On the eve of Thursday¿s clashes he said, “We’ve been greatly indebted to the U.S., but we cannot afford to be obliged to the U.S. forever.” That rather sounds like an invitation to the anti-American activists.

As I mentioned before as well, the human rights activists are already condemning the police force for excessive force, while ignoring the violence of the anti-US hate groups:

With the clash between police and protestors in Pyongtaek Thursday, resulting in more than 200 injured, critics are questioning whether the police used excessive force in suppressing the rally.

Law enforcement authorities detained more than 520 demonstrators after farmers and activists collided violently with riot police in a rally protesting the expansion of a U.S. military camp located in the area.

Police said 210 were injured in Thursday¿s incident _ 117 police officers and 93 protestors _ and the vernacular dailies Kyunghyang Sinmun and Hankyoreh also claimed injuries to some of their reporters covering the scene.

The violence in Pyeongtaek has actually gained some media coverage in the United States. I saw reports on both CNN and Fox News about the protests. Here is the Fox News report. However, this coverage is to little to really shape any public opinion in the United States against Korea. Every time the US media begins to pick up on the violence against the US in Korea, that is when you see the government shows some leadership and clamps down on the hate groups to keep them quiet. Don’t expect any clamp down from the heads of the government any time soon. The Defense Ministry is being totally stuck with handling the political ramifications of the current violence as the politicians hide or take turns making trips to Dokdo. How can a government not comment on the violence and an issue as significant to the national interest as the USFK reorganization?

I’ll provide more updates as things develop, but of course check out the Marmot’s Hole as well for more great coverage of events.

UPDATE #3: So much for the Gwangju comparisons, the battle is over and the frontlines have been secured. Here is a tally of the final casualties:

About 1,100 protesters and farmers were evicted yesterday morning from the site of a planned U.S. Army base. In a 10-hour operation, riot police with batons, shields and water cannon overran a school where the protesters made a stand. With the area cleared, military engineers moved in to build a concertina wire-topped fence around the area. About 210 people, 117 policemen and 93 protesters, were reportedly injured in the assault. Six policemen and seven protesters were said to have been seriously hurt.
Police made more than 500 arrests.
About 13,000 riot police and 2,800 soldiers were involved.

Of course the human rights commission is on their way:

Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said in a statement, “The actions by some activists to use the people of the area as pawns in a political battle against a national project is detrimental both to the citizens living in the area and the national interest.” Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission dispatched 13 investigators to the scene to ascertain no human rights violations occurred in the day¿s conflict.

I’m sue we will be subjected to human rights complaints for the next few days from these guys complaining about the protesters getting the crap beaten out of them while completing ignoring the fact these protesters were beating the police with their pipes and bamboo poles not to mention the fact that more police were injured in the battle than protesters.

So far it looks like the anti-US hate groups have been dealt a crushing blow as they right now appear to not be garnering any public sympathy for their cause. It appears that their violent tactics and childish ranting has worn thin with an indifferent Korean public. However, I’m sure they will be back using some other tactics, possibly complaining of “environmental damage” on the annexed land by the Defense Ministry. I can assure you that this is not over yet.

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UPDATE #2: Here is an Oh My News report with lot’s of pictures from the front lines.

Here is a picture from the school in Daechu-ri, that is a lot of riot police:

Here is a picture of the wire that is being put up around the area being annexed for the Camp Humphreys expansion. For those not in the military this is military concertina wire that is actually very effective for securing perimeters but you have to leave patrols to ensure that no one will put boards over it or digs underneath it.

The Oh My News coverage basically centered around the police beating up the protesters with pictures like these:

Before you start feeling sorry for these union pro-North Korean / anti-US thugs, remember images like the one below. Peaceful protesters don’t weild pipes and bamboo poles at the police. The police after beating the crap out of these guys should have arrested them as well.

So far it looks like the Ministry of Defense is winning this climatic battle and will just need to continue to hold the perimeter from these thugs. I will provide updates as they come out.

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UPDATE #1: The rumble is on at Camp Humphreys:

Thousands of police Thursday scuffled with hundreds of farmers, civic activists and anti-U.S. students in an area designated for expanded U.S. military facilities. There have been no immediate reports of

casualties, according to police.
The Defense Ministry sent some 3,000 troops, including 600 military engineers, and about 700 civilian security personnel and heavy equipment to build a barbed wire fence around the area. Engineers started setting up the wire fence at around 7:30 a.m.

No reports of casualties? This sounds like front line war report. Than again the Daechu-ri Elementary School might as well be a war zone:

Police armed with batons and shields were engaged in fierce fighting with stone-throwing labor activists and some residents wielding long sticks near Daechuri Elementary School, a makeshift headquarters for the remaining occupants and civic activists.

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It looks like the final showdown between the anti-US hate groups and the Korean government is about to take place to decide the fate of the Camp Humphreys expansion and the future of the US-ROK alliance:

The Defense Ministry and the police have agreed to put up barbed wire fences around the site for a planned new U.S. Forces Korea headquarters to keep protestors from occupying an elementary school and working the fields there. The government plans to mobilize a huge force of some 14,000 troops to evict the resistance on Thursday, raising fears of violent clashes with residents, activists and members of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions camped out at the Daechu-ri Elementary School in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

What the heck does the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions have to do with a base expansion other than their hatred for anything involving the US?:

On Tuesday, when it became clear that clashes would be inevitable, the secretary-general of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions announced, ¿Workers in South and North Korea came together and resolved to stage an anti-American campaign on Labor Day¿ at Daechu-ri Elementary School, the impromptu headquarters of activists there. ¿It is the U.S. that drives this peaceful land to war and squeezes the public of its blood and sweat,¿ he said. ¿Daechu-ri in Pyeongtaek has its place in our fight against the U.S.¿

It is going to be interesting to see if the Korean government has enough nerve to actually enforce law and order in Daechu-ri and arrest the outsiders like the KFTU thugs that are continually causing problems in Korea.