Korean Job Discussion Forums

[komerican]

I find it odd that the US made this strange change denying Korean control of the islands right before the Japanese decided to claim ownership in their textbooks. The US then claimed their position was the same. Then why make the change? Odd.

Also, it's almost as if the Japanese knew beforehand that the US was going to do this. It's kind of like a sneak attack and a replay of what happened in 1905, with the US and Japan working together again, except on a smaller scale.

It's a good thing that Koreans discovered this and made a very public protest. Protests do work, folks.

[monkinwonderland]

Quite right, komerican. It's about time the rest of the world stops conspiring to rob Korea of its pride and dignity. Luckily, it is a nation of rational and assertive citizens who will not take offense lying down.

[Real Reality]

[Guri Guy]

I don't think there's a big conspiracy theory here.
It seems reasonable to assume that they changed it back because Bush is visiting South Korea next week. Can you imagine the riots and pandemonium if it was left the way it was? It would make the US Beef protests look like a Sunday brunch in the park.

I am sure the USA will push to have this issue resolved in due time.

[Passions]

[oceansdepth]

^ hey. i didn't mean it at all at first in an offensive way. If anything, I just want to see sources. I just wanted to see the videos and/or articles. i looked at all of them. and I really hope that just because i'm Korean that you think I am a ultra-Korean nationalist. I usually play devil's advocate so I was just asking.

And of course I think many Korean's views on America is extremely biased and in an unfair way. But haven't you heard of Japanese citizens(particularly Okinawan) protesting for the American Army base to get out?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/02/20/okinawa.rape/index.html

I think sometimes definitely KOreans take it overboard like with the Beef protests. I think some KOreans just do not what they're protesting now. First it was against the safety of the beef even though the Korean Pres. was trying to talk sense into people. and then there was an anti-violence movement that came out of it. and etc. But i think that if people want to protest against certain actions, let them.

I know that a lot of KOreans are sensitive to anything related to American issues because some already have an anti-American sentiment. but it's not like Japan or other countries haven't been the same way against Americans. I was in Japan visiting during the time when they were doing some protests for the U.S. army bases to get out. a lot due to the rapes that were occurring around the bases. I mean, I don't think it's the best idea to move the bases though.. how often or long have you lived in japan?

I mean, just from my experience, older generations do tend to have different opinions about America, especially people like my grandfather who was able to fight the Korean war. you probably think because I'm KOrean that I'm a crazy overnationalist nut or something?

[Young FRANKenstein]

[Guri Guy]

The timing is not strange at all. George W. Bush is going to visit South Korea next week. Throwing South Korea a proverbial bone makes them feel better and they are hoping that this will head off any massive anti-USA demonstrations. Changing it back that is.

Changing it in the first place was probably a warning to South Korea to "toe the line". It worked.

[contrarian]

The Koreans have been better allies to the US than has Japan. Remember Viet Nam, even with Roh in power to Iraq and now maybe more to Afghanistan.

guri sure doesn't like Korea very much.

[monkinwonderland]

[jkelly80]

[Guri Guy]

South Korea was paid enormous amounts of money to fight in Vietnam. The amount of money they received from military contracts alone was staggering.

I like South Korea just fine Contrarian. I also like rational, honesty and common sense.

Hmmm...interesting article.

Scientists seek sex slavery evidence in Vietnam war


A group of Republic of Korea scientists Thursday wrapped up a study of the war in central Vietnam with focus on the issue of Vietnamese women being forced into sex slavery by Korean troops.
In the past few days, the mission met, interviewed, and collected documents in Phu Yen province from many women who were sexually molested or raped by Korean soldiers.

They had earlier carried out a similar survey in two other central provinces, Binh Dinh and Quang Ngai.

The mission leader Yune Chung Ok, a member of the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, said: �Many �comfort women� are still haunted by what they suffered in the past and need help.�

She said the survey aimed to collect evidence and pin responsibility on US allies in the Vietnam war for many of the consequences.

"Comfort women" is a euphemism for the young women and girls forced into sexual slavery, particularly by the Japanese military, during World War II.

http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/?catid=3&newsid=13820

Hmmm...South Korean government did it for the money? They give their veterans meager compensation? Wow...

But South Korea's Government had a number of reasons for responding so energetically to America's call for assistance in Vietnam. The military-dominated Government in power at that time had to maintain a constant vigil against attack from Communist North Korea, bolstered by American troops stationed in South Korea, and was resisting pressure from its own people for the introduction of real democracy at home. It also was engaged in a struggle to free the country from its grinding poverty -- tasks that all required some aid or acquiescence from the United States.

Many South Koreans argue that their Government acted more out of a desire for the hundreds of millions of dollars in aid the United States offered, or that they feel shame because Koreans were killing and being killed in a land in which they had no place. Some complain, too, that the Government has still not told the whole story of South Korea's role in the war helping the United States support South Vietnam's fight against the Communist North. 4,687 Koreans Reported Killed

According to the Defense Ministry, 4,687 Koreans were killed in the war, and more than 5,000 others wounded, but some veterans insist that the casualty figure is much higher, based on the death tolls in their own units. Also unexplored are reports of the particularly brutal methods the Korean soldiers were said to have used.

For the veterans, much of the focus now is on demands for greater Government assistance, which they say has been in meager. One particular complaint is that the Government neither recognizes nor offers treatment for problems related to Agent Orange, the powerful chemical used to kill dense jungle foliage during the war. The chemical is believed to have caused an array of health problems for some of the soldiers exposed to it.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE2DB173AF933A25756C0A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Until 1988, Korea was ruled by a succession of military dictatorships that buried the memory of Korean involvement in Vietnam. The Korean government also preferred not to admit it had received economic payoffs for assisting the United States in Vietnam. The United States saved about $8,000 per solider per year by paying Korean soldiers to fight instead of American ones -- a savings of $2.5 billion dollars over eight years -- and it promised $1 billion dollars to the South Korean government. Han Hong Koo teaches modern Korean history at Sungkonghoe University. He says the money gave South Korea a big economic boost at a time when the country needed to rebuild. South Korean companies were awarded reconstruction contracts to build roads and bridges in Vietnam. Korea was also able to boost exports of electronics. Both factors helped lay the groundwork for the country's current economy.

http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=e17768f0425c1625fbfdc2a2d6f5726c

The South Korean government did it for the money and then lied to their people about it? A cash grab to get the economy rolling then not paying the people that were injured. Sounds a lot like comfort women doesn't it?
Of course, according to some I hate South Korea. Actually I hate military dictators that sell out their own people to make a buck. I feel sorry for South Koreans that were deliberately lied to by their own government.

[Young FRANKenstein]

[oceansdepth]

Guri, the statement that i read in the article you posted: " or that they feel shame because Koreans were killing and being killed in a land in which they had no place. " From what i gathered from a lot of people in KOrea, this seems to be the most common feeling. There has been a good amount of pressure of guilt from Vietnam for what Korea has done to Vietnam during the war plus the exploitation of Vietnamese women as brides most commonly for farmers in Korea currently. KOrea was definitely played as a pawn during the VIetnamese war. the efforts i heard to try to repair the relations thus far was a public apology to Vietnam from Korea plus the construction of schools/hospitals in Vietnam/

[contrarian]

I have a couple of relatives and several close friends who served in Vietnam.

They were consistenet is saying that the Koreans were some of the best and most effective soldiers there. There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in their conduct. Wars are meant to be won and they did a good job.

Too bad the US wimped out and left. They should have invaded North Viet Nam and shut of the sanctuaries from which the bad guys were fighting.