Posted on 10/29/2003 7:26:49 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Edited on 04/23/2004 12:06:04 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
As North Koreans die, South Koreans look the other way.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003 12:01 a.m.
SEOUL--North Korea's highest-ranking defector arrived safely in Washington yesterday despite North Korea's threat to "shoot his plane out of the sky" if he dared to visit the U.S.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Beneath contempt. And we stand in the line of fire for such as these? This is a product of SK xenophobia--a kind of familial and cultural racism. SK is a military and economic powerhouse--and look at their appalling lack of charity.
Let Seoul manage their NK problem--on their own.
Let Seoul manage their NK problem--on their own.
I've spoken to young South Koreans in such a tone and they quickly shot back: "You think you Americans are in Korea because you're doing us a favor? Gimme a break!"
I must admit it's true, we're in South Korea primarily to protect our common strategic interests, so staying there in the face of an ungrateful local population doesn't make as much sense as it used to. The big question now is, How do we pull out without giving North Korea a sense of victory, and without emboldening China to further assert its rising regional domination?
Our troops function as a kind of hostage more than anything else. It's an expense and a risk--why can't we move out? The SK military is a very large and fine one--
Can you believe how little welcome they provide for their refugee brothers from the North?
How to get out gracefully? Well, let's let that little p#ssant Roh do the political job for us. Next time he opens his silly mouth, let Rummy do the pulling.
Don't forget that Japan is in the picture. They need their own nukes. Little SK army-baits spend all their evenings in the video cafes making make-believe war...let 'em pull a little more reality guard duty.
And yet when, the last time the protests arose and the government started making "Yankee Go Home" noises, and Rummy and Dubya responded "Okay, if that's what you want", they backed down quickly enough.
Having served three widely-spaced tours in the 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Casey, in Tongduchon, up near the DMZ, where you would expect people to be just a little bit more appreciative of the US Army presence .. with the NKA just over the ridgeline .. I would make the following observations:
(a) First tour 1979-1980: I would vehemently disagree with any proposal to pull out of Korea, probably with the emphasis of a fist to the nose of the individual making the proposal, having had a very pleasant experience with the populace;
(b) Second tour 1988-1989: I would disagree with the proposal to pull out of Korea, although indicating that I could probably argue both sides of the discussion, having had a reasonably pleasant experience with the populace up by the DMZ but a much less pleasant time with individuals south of Uijongbu/Camp Red Cloud;
(c) Third tour 1993-1994: I would not only agree with the proposal, but would inquire as to when the boats would be made available and could it be done yesterday at the latest. The tide of public opinion was turning against us even up by the DMZ, except for the very oldest people who personally remembered the Korean War.
Now, after hearing from friends who are still in the Army and recently or presently assigned to Korea, I would advocate not only pulling out all of our troops, but liberally bombing both sides of the DMZ with nukes after completing that task.
Which would allow the Chinese to seize the entire peninsula, something they haven't managed in 14 centuries. Either way, strategic sense dictates that we make our moves very cautiously. Whoever controls Korea effectively dominates the Far East. If Korea becomes a Chinese satellite or dependency, that's bad news for the entire Pacific rim.
China does not want war with SK--and even if they did, that's SK's problem. We can function quite nicely without SK--we have the whole Sea of Japan as our naval base.
I mean, these young SK men spend every moment of leisure in mock-combat in video cafes. They're tanned, willing, and rested.
It's time to let them take over their own fate.
Just like America, SK has its contingent of ungrateful no-account losers, but we shouldn't go overboard and overestimate the problem. Most of the country still wants us there.
Sorry, but I don't agree with you there. I do not believe that most of the country still wants us there. Most of the country is, at best, apathetic and/or too centered on the idea of reunification. Our "friends" are tepid at best and our enemies are vociferous in their hatred of America.
If you have a problem with leaving the population of Seoul with a fallout problem, spare a couple of missiles for them and put them out their misery early.
Here's the data according to the CIA World Factbook 2003:
Population:
48,289,037 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 20.6% (male 5,256,451; female 4,703,853)
15-64 years: 71.5% (male 17,527,407; female 16,991,229)
65 years and over: 7.9% (male 1,512,157; female 2,297,940) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 33.2 years
male: 32.2 years
female: 34.2 years (2002)
During our conflict with Iraq, Bush requested help from SK, which has a large, modern, well-equipped military.
Seoul sent 700 non-soldier advisors. I think they arrived just a few weeks ago in Baghdad.
Stop and consider how many Americans died so that the affluent SK brats can sneer at the US in democratic freedom.
Enough, already. In many ways, SK is worse than France.
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