North Korea: Why They Hate Us

[georgephillip]

When did US/Korean relations first begin, and how have they evolved over the past 147 years?

"In 1866 the U.S. merchant ship General Sherman defied the laws of Korea (then pursuing a policy of strict isolation) by entering Korean waters, and sailing up the Taedong River towards Pyongyang to demand trade. What happened to the ship?


a. It was attacked by local people and soldiers, burned, and sunk, with the loss of its entire crew.

b. Its crew was politely told that since Korea was a satrapy of China all negotiations concerning commerce had to take place via Beijing.

c. It was welcomed, and Korean officials began discussing with the Americans a Treaty of Amity and Commerce."

Source:

"GARY LEUPP is an an associate professor, Department of History, Tufts University and coordinator, Asian Studies Program. He can be reached at: [email protected]"

A Pop Quiz on Korea » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

 

[Mad Scientist]

I was stationed in Korea a while back and I think relations are pretty good.

The North just opened a Joint Manufacturing Facility that employs many N. Koreans and sends quite a it of product to the South which then goes to the US. I wonder how much of those Samsung phones get make in the North?

And of course we need troops there in case the North shuts that place down.

 

[georgephillip]

I was stationed in Korea a while back and I think relations are pretty good.

The North just opened a Joint Manufacturing Facility that employs many N. Koreans and sends quite a it of product to the South which then goes to the US. I wonder how much of those Samsung phones get make in the North?

And of course we need troops there in case the North shuts that place down.

I once worked for someone who was also stationed in Korea during the late 1960s.
He held pretty much the same views as yours.
The point I'm trying to make is simply there would have been no need for US troops on the Korean Peninsula at any time after 1945 if Koreans had been allowed to determine their own fate:

"Lyuh Woon-hyung (May 25, 1886 – July 19, 1947) was a Korean politician who argued that Korean independence was essential to world peace, and a reunification activist who struggled for the independent reunification of Korea since its national division in 1945.

"His pen-name was Mongyang (몽양; 夢&#38525, the Hanja for 'dream' and 'light.'

"He is rare among politicians in modern Korean history in that he is revered in both South and North Korea."

Lyuh Woon-hyung - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lyuh would likely have been elected president of a united Korea in 1945 absent a US occupation of South Korea.

 

[georgephillip]

"After the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, Japan acquired control over Korea, annexing it formally in 1910. In 1905 Japanese Prime Minister Katsura Tar? met secretly with U.S. Secretary of War William Howard Taft, producing the Taft-Katsura Agreement in which the U.S. recognized Japan’s interests in Korea. What did the U.S. receive in return?

a. Japanese agreement to limit emigration to the U.S.

b. Japanese recognition of U.S. colonial rule over the Philippines.

c. Japan’s renunciation to all claims to the Hawai’ian Islands."

A Pop Quiz on Korea » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

 

[georgephillip]

"At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, U.S. President Roosevelt and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin discussed the postwar future of Korea. Stalin advocated independence as soon as possible. Roosevelt

a. agreed to immediate independence

b. advocated a trusteeship of 20-30 years, citing the positive example of U.S. rule in the Philippines

c. suggested Korea remain a part of the Japanese Empire, to be occupied by Allied forces."

A Pop Quiz on Korea » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

 

[Vikrant]

When did US/Korean relations first begin, and how have they evolved over the past 147 years?

"In 1866 the U.S. merchant ship General Sherman defied the laws of Korea (then pursuing a policy of strict isolation) by entering Korean waters, and sailing up the Taedong River towards Pyongyang to demand trade. What happened to the ship?


a. It was attacked by local people and soldiers, burned, and sunk, with the loss of its entire crew.

b. Its crew was politely told that since Korea was a satrapy of China all negotiations concerning commerce had to take place via Beijing.

c. It was welcomed, and Korean officials began discussing with the Americans a Treaty of Amity and Commerce."

Source:

"GARY LEUPP is an an associate professor, Department of History, Tufts University and coordinator, Asian Studies Program. He can be reached at: [email protected]"

...

If the entire crew was killed (see point a) then to whom did they (Koreans) communicate point b?

 

[georgephillip]

"A Pop Quiz on Korea
by GARY LEUPP



"(Choose the best answer. 3 points each. Answers at the end.)

1. In 1866 the U.S. merchant ship General Sherman defied the laws of Korea (then pursuing a policy of strict isolation) by entering Korean waters, and sailing up the Taedong River towards Pyongyang to demand trade. What happened to the ship?

a. It was attacked by local people and soldiers, burned, and sunk, with the loss of its entire crew.

b. Its crew was politely told that since Korea was a satrapy of China all negotiations concerning commerce had to take place via Beijing.

c. It was welcomed, and Korean officials began discussing with the Americans a Treaty of Amity and Commerce."

A Pop Quiz on Korea » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Vikrant]

My bad

Sometimes I do multiple things at the same time and this is what happens.

 

[georgephillip]

"In accordance with a wartime agreement that the USSR would enter the war with Japan following the German surrender, Soviet forces invaded Korea in August, advancing to the 38th parallel by August 10. They could easily have occupied the whole peninsula. What did they do?


a. They accepted the Japanese surrender, provided arms to local communist forces led by Kim Il-sung, and withdrew within the year.

b. They consulted with their American allies, who requested that they stop their advance at the 38th parallel, so that U.S. forces could in the next month occupy the rest of Korea. The Soviets agreed to the U.S. proposal.

c. They proclaimed the Korean Soviet Republic and made plans for permanent incorporation into the USSR."

A Pop Quiz on Korea » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

 

[georgephillip]

My bad

Sometimes I do multiple things at the same time and this is what happens.

You are definitely in the right place.
Welcome to the asylum.

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

When did US/Korean relations first begin, and how have they evolved over the past 147 years?

"In 1866 the U.S. merchant ship General Sherman defied the laws of Korea (then pursuing a policy of strict isolation) by entering Korean waters, and sailing up the Taedong River towards Pyongyang to demand trade. What happened to the ship?


a. It was attacked by local people and soldiers, burned, and sunk, with the loss of its entire crew.

b. Its crew was politely told that since Korea was a satrapy of China all negotiations concerning commerce had to take place via Beijing.

c. It was welcomed, and Korean officials began discussing with the Americans a Treaty of Amity and Commerce."

Source:

"GARY LEUPP is an an associate professor, Department of History, Tufts University and coordinator, Asian Studies Program. He can be reached at: [email protected]"

A Pop Quiz on Korea » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

They hate us because they are a Communist nation, George.

 

[georgephillip]

When did US/Korean relations first begin, and how have they evolved over the past 147 years?

"In 1866 the U.S. merchant ship General Sherman defied the laws of Korea (then pursuing a policy of strict isolation) by entering Korean waters, and sailing up the Taedong River towards Pyongyang to demand trade. What happened to the ship?


a. It was attacked by local people and soldiers, burned, and sunk, with the loss of its entire crew.

b. Its crew was politely told that since Korea was a satrapy of China all negotiations concerning commerce had to take place via Beijing.

c. It was welcomed, and Korean officials began discussing with the Americans a Treaty of Amity and Commerce."

Source:

"GARY LEUPP is an an associate professor, Department of History, Tufts University and coordinator, Asian Studies Program. He can be reached at: [email protected]"

A Pop Quiz on Korea » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

They hate us because they are a Communist nation, George.

And because we have killed millions of them, Jeri:

"One last point of context for understanding the North’s actions is the unimaginable destruction waged on it by the U.S. during the Korean War.

"This is something that is still very much in the consciousness of North Koreans and is something often brought up to foreigners who visit their country.

"The U.S. dropped 635,000 tons of bombs during the Korean War (compared to 650,000 tons on Germany in WWII) and most of this was on North Korea where people were forced to live underground in caves, tunnels, and canyons to avoid being killed during the war.

"The U.S. bombed North Korea’s dams wiping out villages and destroying their means of irrigation. Hungarian correspondent during the Korean War Tibor Meray witnessed the “destruction committed by the American forces.

"'Everything which moved in North Korea was a military target, peasants in the fields were often machine gunned by pilots' Meray saw 'complete devastation between the Yalu River and the capital' of North Korea.

"There were 'no more cities in North Korea,' he reported."

Everything you believe about North Korean human rights abuses may well be true.
That doesn't change why they hate us.

Reviewing the Korean Crisis » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

 

[georgephillip]

"In August 1945 defeated Japanese forces formally turned over authority in Korea to the broad-based Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence, led by Lyuh Woon-hyung, which in September proclaimed the Korean People’s Republic (KPR). When U.S. forces under Gen. Reed Hodge arrived in Inchon to accept the Japanese surrender, they

a. ordered all Japanese officials to remain in their posts, refused to recognize Lyuh as national leader, and soon banned all public reference to the KPR

b. recognized Lyuh as the legitimate head of state

c. negotiated with Lyuh to facilitate swift attainment of independence of a united Korea"

A Pop Quiz on Korea » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names