Problems With South Korea

[Annie]

While the older people in SK understand what happened in the 40's and 50's, not to mention under the Japanese prior to that, the young do not. Like so many places, including the US, their education and media are NOT helping:

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/06/10/200406100010.asp

As the seeds of the Korea War were planted by the post-World War II division of the Korean Peninsula by the United States and the Soviet Union, many South Koreans also believe that inter-Korean rapprochement and reunification should be controlled by Koreans themselves - including those from the North.

How did that war start? What were the seeds? Simple explanation:

http://www.angelfire.com/country/americanpride2/koreanwar.html

The Korean War was short compared to the wars of the past. It lasted from 1950-1953. The United Nations coalition which was U.S. dominated, came to the aid of S. Korea when they were invaded by N. Korea (who happened to be aided by Russia and China). The Korean penisula was a Japanese possession from 1910 to 1945. After WWII, Russia oversaw the surrender of Japanese forces north of the 38th parallel in Korea while the U.S. supervised the surrender in the south. After Russia and America established a joint commission to form a Korean government, these two countries disagreed on the legitimacy of the competing political groups that sought to govern Korea. In 1947, the U.S. asked the U.N. to try to unite the two halves of Korea. The 38th parallel suddenly became the line that divided the north and the south. The north became communist and the south became known as an agricultural area that was dependant on U.S. aid. In 1949 the Soviets and Americans withdrew their troops, but small advisary groups became increasingly hostile. On June 25, 1950 the first shots of artillary were fired and thirty minutes later 80,000 N. Korean troops invaded S. Korea. When the U.N. asked that the troops be removed, N. Korea ignored the request. On June 27, the U.N. decided that U.N. members should help the S. Koreans. On that same day, President Truman without a congressional declaration of war committed our military supplies to S. Korea.

 

[HGROKIT]

Originally posted by Kathianne
While the older people in SK understand what happened in the 40's and 50's, not to mention under the Japanese prior to that, the young do not. Like so many places, including the US, their education and media are NOT helping:

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/06/10/200406100010.asp

Sounds as though they want their cake and eat it too!

I was there in late '79 when Park was assasinated. I was due to rotate back in less than 30 days. My wife at the time was en route to spend my last 30 days in country with me. Her flight was turned around and my orders home appeared at risk, as there was a temporary halt to all movement while everyone caught their breath.

At the time, it was believed the assasination was perpetrated by the north and there was a real fear that war was imminent. Wasn't too much anti-American sentiment then.

However, as I explained in another thread, the feelings described in this articel were being fostered even then. How sad that they soon forget and the legacy is not passed down.

Bring our folks home. Let the Koreas do as they will. The cold war is over and if the South wants to embrace the lunatic from the north with all of the inherint problems and pverty - then so be it. But don't come crying to us to bail your sorry asses out when you've discovered how dumb your plan was.

 

[Annie]

I have to say that I agree with you. I don't see any reason for that many troops to be in harm's way from within. IF we needed to get in there, we could do so fast enough. Not to mention, IF we needed to, we probably wouldn't want to do it from the South.

 

[HGROKIT]

Originally posted by Kathianne
I have to say that I agree with you. I don't see any reason for that many troops to be in harm's way from within. IF we needed to get in there, we could do so fast enough. Not to mention, IF we needed to, we probably wouldn't want to do it from the South.

Strategically, we would want a foot hold in the south where we could base supplies and rear operations. Given the climate however, I just say let them carve their own destiny.

The original reason for our invlolvement was to fight the Russians and Chinese as surrogates for communism - or is it the other way around? The whole damn thing was politicized from the beginning and probably more of a mistake in foreign policy than Viet Nam. Before I get flammed, I support our decision in both cases and most certainly our people that fought these wars. I just question the overall wisdom of getting involved to begin with. In the case of Korea, Japan really created that nightmare with their occupation -we then exacerbated it when cutting deals with the Russians/Chinese at the end of WWII.

I just feel that once we bail someone out and they no longer want our help, then we should just get the hell out of their way and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[waltky]

Former Secretary of the UN passes on run for So. Korean presidency...

Former U.N. chief Ban rules out running for president of South Korea
Wed Feb 1, 2017 | Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, once considered the front-runner to be next president of South Korea, ruled out running for the top job on Wednesday, disappointed at the "selfish ways" of some politicians in his home country.

Ban said at an unscheduled news conference at parliament, after meeting leaders of conservative parties, that it was "meaningless" to join them. "I have decided to give up the pure intention of trying to lead political change and accomplish national reconciliation," he said.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks during his news conference in Seoul, South Korea​

Ban returned to South Korea on Jan. 12 after serving 10 years as U.N. chief but had been unable to capitalize on his much-anticipated homecoming, cutting a sometimes-irritable figure in public and mired in a series of perceived PR gaffes and a scandal involving family members. Even without announcing his intention to run, his support ratings in opinion polls had slipped to second place behind the presidential candidate for the main opposition Democratic Party, after peaking at nearly 30 percent last year.

Conservative President Park Geun-hye has been impeached by parliament amid a wide-ranging corruption scandal, complicating any run by Ban. He had been expected to run as a conservative but was unable to secure any party affiliation. If the impeachment vote against Park is upheld by the Constitutional Court, she will have to quit and an election would be held two months later. A ruling is expected as soon as late this month.

Former U.N. chief Ban rules out running for president of South Korea