In OhMyNews, Tim Savage writes about historical amnesia and the oversimplification of commentary regarding the state of the Korea-U.S. alliance. It’s a well-argued take on things from a perspective very different from what you’ll often find linked here. Here’s a taste:
One of the biggest bones of contention has been over the history of U.S.-Korean relations. U.S. legislators, both Democrat and Republican, are fond of arguing that “young Koreans don’t know their own history.” By this the politicians — none of whom would qualify as an expert on Korean history — mean that those South Koreans born after the Korean War (1950-53) lack an appreciation of the U.S. role in keeping the country free from Communism and creating a free, wealthy and democratic society.
It is certainly true that the United States sacrificed thousands of lives in the Korean War, and afterwards provided billions of dollars in aid which played a major role in South Korea’s development. But focusing only on this aspect of the relationship — as the Korean War Memorial in Washington does - ignores the role that the U.S. played in dividing Korea in the first place, thus setting the stage for the war the U.S. then had to intervene in.
Moreover, Americans seem to forget that democracy was not a gift bestowed on Koreans by the beneficent Uncle Sam but something that South Koreans had to fight for in the streets and universities of Seoul and other cities. It may well be true that South Korea under American tutelage had a better chance of eventually developing democracy than North Korea under Soviet-Chinese sponsorship, and that therefore U.S. intervention should be credited with a role in South Korean democratization. But that is hardly the whole story.
In 1980, the U.S. government, fearing a repeat of the embassy takeover in Tehran, deliberately turned a blind eye while military dictator Chun Doo-hwan slaughtered pro-democracy protestors on the streets of Kwangju. The incoming U.S. administration of President Ronald Reagan then publicly embraced Chun, continuing to support him despite his brutal suppression of a democracy movement that even the U.S. State Department’s own study concluded had widespread popular support. The same students who were on the front lines fighting the U.S.-backed dictatorship are now moving into positions of influence in Seoul, so Americans (if they know their own history) should hardly be surprised that they’re not brimming over with gratitude toward Washington.
Read the rest on your own.
(HT to reader)
7 Comments
“One of the biggest bones of contention has been over the history of U.S.-Korean relations. U.S. legislators, both Democrat and Republican, are fond of arguing that ‘young Koreans don’t know their own history.’”
I follow the news pretty carefully and haven’t heard of legislators saying anything like this. If someone has some quotes I’d like to read them.
Of course I have heard older Koreans saying this many times….
Tim Savage should know better than to repeat the great canards of the 1980s, spawned by the ROK right and embraced by the left. Angry US voices today reflect not some perceived lack of gratitude for events of 1950-53, but to attitudes and actual actions taken by the ROK governments since 2000 or so that rub against US interests, above all with North Korea. There was a better piece last week in the WAPO by (a former US Seoul Ambo’s son) Daniel Sneider, who reminds us that US-ROK relations have never been a day at the beach since …. at least the Inchon landing.
Make that the afternoon of September 8, 1945 when the lead elements of the XXIV Corps under General Hodge landed in Korea to accept the Japanese surrender (an advance party had arrived earlier on the 4th to coordinate with the Russians through the still operating Soviet legation in Seoul) - or even earlier if you want to take account of the importunings of the Provisional Government in exile and various other Korean claimants to power.
Hysterical amnesia can often be cured with a swift, solid thump on the head.
I’ve got the simple solution. People need to realize that a country is only an entity made up of people, and that it does not have a personality or responsability or hold blame nor should receive gratitude. To say America saved S. Korea is misleading.
Any gratitude should be given to Truman for entering the War, McArthur for leading an army, etc. Show me a person here who saved S Korea from the comunist invaders during that war. I can’t accept credit for something my grandfather did, because he did it and not me.
So, thank him… ah but he’s dead. And so is any gratitude that should be owed toward his “country” for his service, because as the country is representative of the people so the Gratitude dies with those people who did the act.
I will however take a simple “thanks” if any Korean were to give it, for my service here, and on occasion they have. As I would to those in Zaytun or who served in Vietnam.
But it is, as it should be, left at that. What should be done now should be considered within the context of the present, because the past is just that and should not direct what must be done now. So S. Korea has every right to crap on the U.S. if they want, so long as they remember the Americans from the past I have no problem.
And as an American, to put things in perspective, I’ll follow my own advise, in that I’ll still honor General Lafayette, but “France”(the government of, Jacques Chirac et al.) can toss my salad.
Capt BBQ…for the most part I agree with your logic but you are forgetting one very important thing here. Currently there are over 30,000 Americans in Korea helping protect the ROK. For that alone the ROK should be grateful. For the technology, intel, training and war deterent the US gives them on a daily basis.
I honestly believe that most Koreans, even the hothead netizens of today, honestly appreciate the sacrifices the US made in the Korean War. What burns most Americans asses is the constant anti-American sentiment we must face here today despite the fact that Korea still benefits greatly from the US-ROK alliance whereas the US pretty much gets nothing in return. The ROK won’t even open up their markets to US goods but they’d scream bloody murder if the US kept out the Hyundai cars and Samsung TV’s.
And don’t forget that the billions the ROK has saved over the past few decades by relying on US forces has allowed them to redirect money that otherwise would have gone to defense spending into their infrastructure.
The US has done much more for the ROK than just kicking the Norks out back in the 1950’s. But what has Korea ever done to return the favor? More importantly, when is the last time they showed any gratitude?
how many times must one show gratitude ? to what length? can we have it measured in numbers ?