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.
