Tag: Anti-Americanism

(Note: Prior posting and update here and here)

UPDATE: I highly recommend everyone read this posting from Michael Hurt.  As always he offers some good food for thought about the “Alms Race” in Korea.

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The latest on the Korean missionary kidnapping is that the Taliban are now offering to hand over 8 of the female hostages in return for 8 Taliban hostages.  After such a hand over talks for exchange of hostages for more prisoners would be initiated.  Afghan President Karzai has already ruled out a prisoner exchange and Korea has little to offer Karzai to change his mind thus making this option appear unlikely.

The next option to free the hostages would be to launch a rescue operation.  A rescue operation would be extraordinarily dangerous and likely lead to the deaths of some, if not all of the hostages.  Would the US forces be willing to conduct such an operation knowing the outcome might be messy and that the Korean government in turn could blame the US military for the deaths of the hostages to deflect blame from their own failings?  That is why if a rescue operation is to be launched it should be launched by a Korean special operations force not American.  Since the current Korean President has an aversion to military operations this option seem highly unlikely.  Any American rescue operation at least in the near term seems very unlikely as well.

Since a prisoner exchange and hostage rescue operation are both unlikely, than paying a ransom appears to be the most likely avenue that Korean negotiators will go next.  The kidnappers are already demanding $100,000 just to allow the Korean negotiators to speak to the hostages.  If that is the price just to speak to the hostages, you can imagine what the ultimate price for their release will be, probably in the tens of millions of dollars.   Paying the ransom would probably have a chilling effect on the relationship between the Korean and Afghan governments because the money would do wonders to finance Taliban operations that would undoubtedly lead to more kidnappings and the deaths of even more Afghans and coalition soldiers in Afghanistan.  The Korean government probably would be willing to risk this relationship in order to pay the ransom and free the hostages; after all this is the same government that finances an even worse gangster operation in North Korea to a tune of over $1 billion a year, so what’s a few million to the Taliban?

With the likelihood of this issue being protracted and possibly even messy the leftist political parties and press in Korea have already began to create a narrative that this crisis is all America’s fault.  Yes, the fact that ruthless, religious fanatics kidnapped 23 Koreans that were devoid of any common sense, and that their own government allowed them to travel to Afghanistan is now all some how America’s fault:

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has, until now, remained silent, despite the ongoing hostage crisis involving 23 South Koreans who are being threatened with death by their Taliban captors in Afghanistan. The U.S. government’s leading role in the war on terrorism and its decisive influence on the release of Taliban prisoners, one of the key demands of the current captors, has increasingly brought attention to the meaning behind the silence. Though the U.S. Department of State has finally commented on the recent events in Afghanistan, the timing of the comments still leaves many unanswered questions about what role the U.S. government will take.
[…]
As an allied nation, it may be difficult for the United States to intervene in negotiations between South Korea and the kidnappers. However, if this is the case, anti-American sentiment may rapidly spread throughout the nations with which it is allied.

Note the term “decisive influence” in the above citation.  In other words if the captives are not released it is America’s fault for not using it’s “decisive influence” to make the Afghan government release Taliban killers that would go on to kill, rob, and rape more Afghan civilians just to release the Korean missionaries.  It isn’t just the leftist media creating this current narrative in Korea either, the Democratic Labor Party is echoing the same sentiment:

Appearing on CBS, Democratic Labor Party lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan expanded on yesterday’s Hankyoreh Shinmun’s theme, saying, “Because the United States hopes Korean troops will remain in Afghanistan and has wanted Korea to even send combat troops, it won’t say anything about the hostage situation.” He also said another reason why the United States was keeping silent was that if Washington told Seoul not to accept the Taliban’s demands, it could be read as meaning the United States thought it would be good even if the hostages died, and if it told Seoul to accept the demands, it could cause problems for the US occupation policy in Afghanistan.

Make sure to read the rest here.  So who is the Democratic Labor Party?  Well just the same guys that were linked to a Ilshimhoe North Korean spy scandal last year.  The fact they are exploiting this hostage crisis to further the anti-American aims of their North Korean puppet masters is not surprising, neither is the fact the leftist Hankyoreh newspaper is maneuvering to do the same thing.  What will be interesting is if Korean President Roh Moo-hyun will use the anti-Americanism angle to pressure the United States to in turn force President Karzai to release the Taliban prisoners.

United States Forces Korea (USFK) is in the midst of a major force transformation on the peninsula and the Korean government has already done many thing to stop it by allowing anti-American activists to attack soldiers, trespass on USFK land, and wage almost Braveheart like battles against authorities.

Additionally the Korean government has cut agreed upon funding to USFK and refuses to pay their fair share of alliance costs while sending over a billion dollars to North Korea this year.  After much delays and ultimatums from USFK leaders the Korean government finally agreed to the transformation plans, but at a much delayed schedule.

President Roh could quickly unleash the anti-US activists once again on USFK in order to delay the transformation which has finally picked up momentum after all the drama surrounding it over the last two years.  Would he do it?  Who knows, but remember this is the guy that was elected on an anti-American platform and with the Presidential election coming up this year the leftist political parties may see this hostage crisis as an opportunity to ratchet up anti-US sentiment for domestic political reasons.

Over in the US, the hostage crisis is getting little media attention and Michelle Malkin wonders why?  She makes an excellent point that if these were journalists or drunken celebrities taken hostage it would make more headlines.  I have a better example, how about 23 gays taken hostage?  That would be non-stop headlines.  She speculates that the fact that these are Christian missionaries has caused the MSM to shy away from this issue.  That and the fact they are Koreans and not Americans is probably why the hostage crisis has garnered little US media attention. If it was 23 American Christian missionaries I don’ think the MSM could ignore that.

Anyway these missionaries shouldn’t be bashed for their beliefs as some have been doing, but I think they are fair game to be criticized for their actions for riding on a new bus on the highway between Kabul and Kandahar with no security or notifying the local Afghan government.  Stupidity should not be a death penalty and I hope this turns out alright for them, but right now all the options are either bad or worse.

If you need a t-shirt to display your anti-Americanism, than a Canadian in Itaewon has one for you:

Alleyway T-shirt vendors in the Itaewon district have a new competitor. The new must-have shirts read I’m not migook on the front, and on the back in Korean, “I am not an American.” Since the shirts first turned up at a shop in front of the neighborhood Starbucks in the middle of last month, more than 100 of the shirts have been sold every five days. The man who brought the thoughtful product into the world is a 31-year-old named Michael Kenny who would like to make it clear that he is Canadian.

However, Mr. Kenny claims this is all in good fun and he is not anti-American:

Worry no. 2 is that people tend to associate the shirts with anti-Americanism. He says quite a few people have challenged him about the message. But his response is: Oh, there’s nothing to it. It’s all just good fun. American whites are Caucasians, but that doesn’t mean all Caucasians are Americans. Now, wouldn’t it be nice if Koreans knew that too?

Now would he sell t-shirts to people of black skin color saying that they are not Nigerians?  Or better yet maybe he should start selling t-shirts that say “I’m not a Low Quality English Teacher”.  What’s the difference between this hate speech and bashing Americans?

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.

Is this really a good idea?

Schools in Broward and Palm Beach counties are tapping a new source of teachers: South Korea.

The Asian nation has more teachers than it needs, and the Korean government is helping them find jobs abroad, said Andrea Seidman, president of Teachers Council, a nonprofit agency that helps place instructors.

Teachers Council has helped Broward and Palm Beach find Korean teachers in recent weeks. Broward has hired three for next year; Palm Beach likely will hire five, recruitment director Marcia Andrews said. Representatives of both school districts say they want to start with just a few to see how they adapt to American life.

I wonder if we can expect to see charming and artistic works of art from the children of Florida such as this seen in South Korea:

Or how about the teachers teaching facts such as this to the children of Florida:

Consider the following question, posed to 400,000 Korean students in a grade school exam: Which of the following descriptions of Iraq after the Gulf War is incorrect?

A) Due to economic sanctions, infant mortality increased by 150 percent, and in some areas, 70 percent of newborns had leukemia.

B) The United States and Britain conducted a bombing campaign against Iraq for 11 years after the war, causing terror among the Iraqi people.

C) Cancer among Iraqi children in 1999 was 700 percent because of depleted uranium left from the bombing.

D) The infant mortality rate of Iraqi children in 1999 was 300 percent higher than it was a decade earlier.

E) Not a single Iraqi starved to death after the Gulf War because of the extensive food relief program.

This question, and many more like it, comprised a supplemental teaching package on the second Iraq war that was distributed two years ago by the Korea Teachers and Educational Workers Union, the Los Angeles Times reported in July 2003. The package allegedly included graphic photographs of child casualties and urban destruction from the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

According to national education law, teachers who belong to unions are permitted to incorporate such supplemental teaching materials into the mainstream curriculum. School principals technically have the power to regulate what is used, though this rarely occurs.

In one controversial instance, a teacher leading a class on the U.S. military role in South Korea showed her seventh-grade students a police photo of a naked Korean prostitute who was murdered and sexually assaulted in 1992 with an umbrella by an American serviceman.

The offending teacher, who subsequently did not lose her job, argued that such material was widely available on the Internet for public viewing. She echoed the opinion of other unionized educators who contend they oppose war of any kind, and are not waging a targeted smear campaign against the United States.

South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun — who dispatched the third-largest contingent of foreign troops to Iraq — supported the union’s position, saying that “antiwar education should be encouraged but only as long as it is not anti-American, in consideration of our diplomatic relations.”

Even better yet they can teach this:

Today’s texts contain pictures of North Korean food shops (“A lot of women,” reads the caption, helpfully, “are participating in economic activity”) and suggest students practice writing letters to their counterparts across the border (without mentioning that North Korea prohibits mail from the South.) In today’s classrooms, you can find a third-grade textbook with a cartoon of two boys from either side of the border deciding not to throw rocks at each other.

Northern Boy: I’m sorry I threw the rock at you first.

Southern Boy: I’m sorry, too. It is not right for brothers to throw rocks at each other.

Northern Boy: Our parents and ancestors would be grieved to see us fighting.

Southern Boy: Speaking of which, do you want to participate in the international Ping-Pong game together as one team? … If we become one team, we can make up for our weakness and no other country will be able to beat us.

Teachers need little encouragement to use such texts. Park Geun Byung, a teacher at Song Chun elementary school in Seoul, uses a storybook that instructs his fourth-grade class in the tale of an evil dragon that prevents a Romeo and Juliet on either side of a river from marrying. The river is plainly the DMZ. The evil dragon is meant to represent the U.S. Park is a believer in what he calls “unification education.” “Teachers,” he adds, “don’t have to be neutral.”

I am issuing an idiot alert in the Western Corridor after reading this in the Stars and Stripes:

The Yankees already had gone home or at least farther south when two buses carrying about ninety South Korean protesters arrived outside several U.S. bases near the Demilitarized Zone Tuesday.

The Western Corridor bases targeted by the protesters were vacated by 2nd Infantry Division units last year and soon will be returned to the South Korean government. So when the protesters mostly university students who were trailed by a few Korean National Police officers arrived, they found only empty buildings, rusting barbed wire and uninterested South Korean security guards.

Seth Robson hit that one on the head real well

Isn’t empty American bases what these people wanted to begin with?! That the Yankees go home, or in the case of the Western Corridor, go to Iraq?

Here is an idiot comment for you:

The lowest form of American culture spreads out from the bases,âsaid Lee Yongnam, 50, claiming that the soldiers bring crime and prostitution.

Okay, if the soldiers bring prostitution to Korea than how do you explain all the “barber shops” and “sports massage parlors” everywhere in Korea not to mention Paju? Shouldn’t have all these establishments in Paju closed down after the soldiers left? How come they are still there? Prostitution is a Korean problem not an American one. American MP’s cannot enforce Korean law. If this guy is so concerned about prostitution then get your own country’s police force to arrest the bar owners.

Here is another idiot comment:

Lee said the group was aware that the bases they visited had been vacated, but they chose to stage the protests to highlight their effect on the local community. The presence of the bases puts building restrictions on surrounding areas, he said, stunting industry and growth. The economies in areas outside the installations were fueled by bars and other businesses geared toward soldiers, so the soldiers departure had hurt the areas as much as their presence had, Lee said.

So does he want the US military to come back then? Plus the business owners in Dongducheon aren’t complaining about the soldiers. Just people like this.

These students came from Kyeonggi University and interestingly enough I met a student from Kyeonggi University when hiking up Pukhansan today. A good guy and former KATUSA who had obviously better things to do then hang out with idiots from his university at vacated camps.

I wonder if they visited the vacated camps because they got attacked by the business owners in Dongducheon the last time the idiots came up here?