As has been noted in Yonhap and the Chosun, the US House recently passed a resolution note that it “recognizes the strong alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States and expresses appreciation to the Republic of Korea for its contributions to international efforts to combat terrorism.”
How is that for some love?
It passed on a voice vote (which means that it was without controversy).
Here is the full text of the House’s big hug for the ROK. Enjoy:
H. Res. 295In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
June 11, 2007.
Whereas for more than 50 years since the outbreak of the Korean War, a close relationship has existed between the United States and the Republic of Korea, which has been of enormous economic, cultural, and strategic advantage to both nations;
Whereas President George W. Bush and President Roh Moo Hyun have demonstrated their mutual willingness to forge a deeper alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea to enhance stability in East Asia;
Whereas the 29,000 United States armed services personnel who are stationed in the Republic of Korea serve as a testament to the enduring strength of the 1953 U.S.-R.O.K. Mutual Defense Treaty;
Whereas the foundation of the relationship between the United States and the Republic of Korea rests on a shared interest in and commitment to peace, democracy, and freedom on the Korean Peninsula, in Asia, and throughout the world;
Whereas the Republic of Korea and the United States are both deeply committed to the Six Party Talks and have a mutual interest in keeping the Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons;
Whereas the Republic of Korea has more than 1,200 armed services personnel deployed in Iraq, constituting the third largest coalition contingent in Iraq behind the United States and the United Kingdom;
Whereas the Republic of Korea has more than 200 armed services personnel deployed in Afghanistan; and
Whereas the Republic of Korea has pledged $460,000,000 toward reconstruction and stabilization in postwar Iraq: Now, therefore, be it
- Resolved, That the House of Representatives recognizes the strong alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States and expresses appreciation to the Republic of Korea for its contributions to international efforts to combat terrorism.
8 Comments
Yonhap link says the sponsor of the resolution was Rep Pete King, R-NY. His district is the “3rd” (NY); he’s been there a while, and I know that he appears frequently on cable TV news channels here in CONUS as a spokesman. Sometimes representing the Republican party in general, other times speaking for himself.
Chosun link mentions him also by name, says there were a total of eight sponsors but none of the other seven are mentioned by name. The resolution was first proposed in “late March” so that dates it prior to the Virginia Tech shooting.
I was curious to see just why this particular resolution, at this particular time. Rep King’s website has nothing about it that I could find (however posting of his monthly newsletter appears to be current only up to Sep 06, looks like you have to sign up to see any later ones and I didn’t want to do that since I’m not a constituent).
A google search for “US House Resolution 295 2007″ didn’t turn up any significant background stories other than these Yonhap and Chosun links (at least on the first two pages of results).
Maybe Rep King has a substantial Korean-American constituency but this is just a guess; perhaps somebody else here knows the reason for Rep King’s (and/or the other 7 sponsors’) interest.
“How is that for some love?”
The clouds are parting and animals are singing in the fields. I don’t know what to do besides leave little wet spots all over the floor. Can’t you just feel it. Boy, this is gonna be big.
So now S.K.’s National Assembly will return the favor with a bill that expresses appreciation to the U.S. for all it has done to support S.K.
Anyone know of similar US House resolutions pertaining to the other members of the Multi-national coalition in Iraq:
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/
or, the other members of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan:
(hmm, can’t seem to get a second link to paste in, don’t know if it’s the fault of my computer or this web site).
Even such ISAF members as France and Germany, as equally dedicated as the ROK to avoiding any offensive combat role in Afghanistan, have (I think) nevertheless suffered more deaths than ROK forces due to hostile action (car bombings in Kabul etc).
Holy smokes, I see from one web search that even Norwegian F-16’s were dropping bombs on Taliban forces back in 2003.
Where’s their House resolution of thanks and recognition? I recognize of course that US House resolutions are an extremely devalued currency, as anyone can see after trying a web search to look for a specific one (that may or may not exist).
And of course, the “biggy” — what about Japan? Any similar US House resolution pertaining to the Japanese contribution to Iraq/Afghanistan needs to be compared to the Korea one, under a microscope.
However, without a number and a year, I can’t readily see how to narrow a google search enough to find such a resolution, on the first or second page. Maybe one of you-all can do it.
Here’s a wiki article on “coalition casualties in Afghanistan”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.....fghanistan
“…As of June 9, 2007, there have been 535 coalition deaths in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF): 335 American, 60 British, 57 Canadian, 21 German, 21 Spanish, 9 French, 9 Italian, 6 Dutch, 4 Danish, 4 Romanian, 2 Swedish, 1 Australian, 1 Czech, 1 Finnish, 1 Norwegian, 1 Portuguese, and 1 South Korean….
In addition to these deaths, 62 Spanish soldiers returning from Afghanistan were killed May 26, 2003 when their plane crashed in Turkey….”
Shame on me, I’d forgotten about this crash. May God have mercy on their souls.
It could be something as trivial as one active, motivated constituent asking for it.
You can stay a Congressman a long time by winning lifelong friends one trivial, pointless resolution at a time.
Having some general military experience, albeit not a full fledged soldier, there does seem to be a good number of older US soldiers who speak well of the Korean armed forces as they’ve apparently given some ground support for every major American war since the 50’s. A few people on a military BBS also said the same thing, and I was surprised as I rarely heard anything about the Koreans and their military help from the big ups and media till now, in contrast to these fellow soldiers.
If there’s any reason why the other countries haven’t been given similar respects, I think it’s simply because a bulk of the military simply have not had much given knowledge of other countries’ consistent unwavering support, with the exception of the British and to a smaller extent, the Koreans.
Just my limited experience, hope others with stronger connections can chime in