Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bassexpander]

I'm sure Kim Jung Il loves this lady...


http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/11/26/200911260035.asp

[jdog2050]

[hochhasd]

[ytuque]

She has written a book on Korean history and culture, and yet she is this misinformed.

[English Matt]

I don't see anything particularly inflammatory.....it's not like she was saying the US was at fault for not pulling out when Kim Il Sung invaded South Korea. She seems to be referring (although it's not stated so I can't be sure) to the fact that the US allowed Russia a battle honour of taking North Korea even though the Japanese had surrendered and the Russians had played little to no part in the Pacific side of the conflict......the 38th parallel was established by American cartographers which effectively divided the country.

America didn't have a reconstruction plan for the country like they did for Japan......so essentially the stage was set for what followed. Yes the US liberated the country from the Japanese, yes a UN war was fought for the sovereignty of South Korea (and I don't think she is trying to attack any of that that) however the lack of foresight with regards to what to do with a postwar Korea, and the huge error of allowing the Russians to take North Korea, led to what happened after.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

Waddya mean, set the scene? It was merely that 2 people wanted power and one suckerpunched the other. Having a protracted post-Japan plan did not a Civil War make.

[English Matt]

[fermentation]

She is right. If the US wasn't so obsessed with policing the world and didn't get involved in Korea, our great nation would've happily united under the Dear Leader comrade Kim Il Sung.

[English Matt]

[fermentation]

[English Matt]

[earthbound14]

Well said Halfmanhalfbiscuit,

I too would tend to agree that the US did little to help Korea after 'liberatiing' her from the Japanese. The big problem with what happened was that the Yanks at the time left the north in the hands of the Soviets who saw fit to manipulate the north to their own ends. The US and UN forces kind of screwed up when it came to arming the south as well. They didn't want them to become an antagonistic threat so kind of let them be...no weapons, no training and little support for the restructuring of the country...they simply played police while the Soviets loaded the north with weapons and training....The south was unprepared for an invasion and the UN/US was unprepared (read - unwilling) to truly fight the Soviets and the Chinese for complete control of the country. They were un willing to stir up a bigger mess...and then had the misfortune of walking into China...and stirring them up anyway...which left us with the stale mate we have today... It's a shame we couldn't have seen the future though and avoided some of those mistakes, perhaps Korea could have remained intact under the watchful eyes of the US and the UN.

Of course...even while under western protection no one knows if both North and South would have been truly united. Korea has historically been more divided than united and with the mad rush for modernisation I think there were more than a few dictators willing to step up and take power. A 'united' Korea would have been a very stormy place and a civil war may have likely happened anyway. Most countries had civil wars on their way to modernity...the global divided between the communists and the capitalists just made things worse.

So in the end I don't really like any one who says the US is responsible for what happened (anymore than I like people saying the US saved Korea...neither is totally true)...Korea, China, Japan, the Soviets and the entire UN forces were all responsible. Such blanket statements only support a superficial nationalism that is undeserved and unfortunately all too common in Korea. I hate it when someone says it was the US's fault...cause honestly, if it weren't for the US...and all her blunders (along with the UN) South Korea would be under the rule of a maniacal munchin named Little Kim. Even without the Russians or the Yanks, Korea would have still been divided by warring dictators and it's doubtful that without US support or UN pressure would have achieved so much so fast. South Koreans would still be living under the gun of their own people. Koreans have little to base a moral high ground on here.

The story in question in the article should not have been viewed with such disdain...seems like it was only the story of a young girl who saw thigns that way. Perhaps Koreans should still be asked to read it, to see how different something can look from another perspective rather than having their nationalistic pride stroked by the loving hands of a PC America too afraid to say what is real. And of course the Japanese should read a few Korean books...they might not feel so bad about saying I'm sorry and letting them have Dok-do...

I for one loved reading 'All Quiet on the Western Front' - after a life time of anti German war movies, this book taught me the truth about war.

[mc_jc]

Uhmm......What battle did the US fight on the Korean peninsula?
How did the US liberated Korea?

Liberation was made available due to the Japanese surrender that day- August 15th, 1945.

During the war, there was no great effort to resist against Japanese rule. In fact, many Koreans volunteered for the JIA after listening to the intense rhetoric from the Japanese of "Asia for the Asians" and the war was to kick all Europeans out of Asia. Korea was a major producer of war material that was used by the Japanese during the war effort.
Another fact was that the USAAC (US Army Air Corps) made regular bombing runs on factories in and around both Hanyang (Seoul) and Pyongyang.

The reason there was no reconstruction strategy was that the US have little information about Korea. Yes, Christian missionaries had been in the country for many years by then. However, the US lacked a complete understanding of the geopolitical role Korea could play in post-war Asia.
However, the Soviets did and that was why they were insistent on gaining Korean territory north of the 38th Parallel. The Soviets were bent on creating a sphere of buffer countries that would absorb another attack from an outside force. To them, Korea (which lies on the Tumen River bordering the then Soviet Union) was just another piece of that puzzle.

To the US, Korea became just another outpost that had little to no strategic value. To them- Japan was the bigger prize according to Macarthur and he was instrumental in securing millions to rebuild Japan.
People need to keep in mind that the US had only military advisors in Korea, not full-blown units. The US Military Authority in Korea (the US military provisional government, was only there until the end of 1949, in which after that all US military units vacated the country.

It wasn't until the US lost China as an important ally did they start to reconsider South Korea as being strategically important. But by then, the Korean War had started.

[Gwangjuboy]

From the article:

Korea has achieved greatness in many areas and this is what should be emphasized. It is so much more important to know about Korea's technological and artistic achievements and to inform the West about individuals such as King Sejong, one of the greatest leaders in world history. Lessons should be developed to compare King Sejong with Western monarchs.

This is just absurd. Considering the diverse range of cultural backgrounds in the US it would be impossible to accomodate them all so extensively. What this woman is proposing is not only induced by some bizarre identity crisis on her own part, but it is just unworkable without being wholly disproportionate.

[OneWayTraffic]

Especially give how the history of China, Japan, Thailand etc hardly rates a mention in any history book I can remember looking at. I never studied America much in school either. Our history was primarily focused on our own country-as is the history taught in most schools around the world.