Ex-Anti-U.S. Activist (Planned Takeover of US Gov. Center in Seoul) in Roh’s Entourage to D.C.

Chosun Ilbo Newspaper (in English) from Seoul ^ | 14 September 2006 | Chosun Ilbo (conservative) Daily, Seoul

[AmericanInTokyo]

There is precedent for this. The current satanic president of Iran, President "Tom", was also one of the ringleaders a long time ago of the invasion and occupation (kidnapping) of the American Embassy in Teheran--now he is at the pinnacle of power dealing directly with the USA.

One hopes these rabid, anti-US foreign officials with violent pasts, are on the US government's radar when they visit the USA and meet at the White, cleared for top level contact with our own leaders...

[AmericanInTokyo]

Ex Anti-U.S. Activist in Roh’s Entourage to Washington

Of the seven South Korean officials flanking President Roh Moo-hyun in his meetings with U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington D.C. on Thursday, it was his adviser for security strategy Park Sun-won who caught the most media attention. Park is an alumnus of the anti-American movement that seized the United States Information Service (USIS) building in Seoul in May 1985 and was arrested for allegedly masterminding it. Seventy-three students from Seoul National University and four other colleges occupied USIS and demanded a formal apology from the U.S. over the suppression of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising. Park himself took no part in storming the building, but as leader of the Yonsei University chapter of Sammint'u -- or the Struggle Committee for Liberation of the Masses, Attainment of Democracy, and Unification of the Nation -- he was suspected of a leading role behind the scenes. His younger days were spent as an anti-American activist, but now Park is part of the South Korean delegation to summits with the U.S. president.

After serving time, Park studied at the University of Warwick in Britain and earned a doctorate in politics for a thesis titled “Dynamics of Intra-Triangular Alliance Security System in Northeast Asia: Political Interventions of the United States and Japan towards South Korea in Regime Transition, 1979-1980.” He worked as research fellow at the Institute for Korean Unification Studies, Yonsei University, and joined the National Security Council (NSC) under the current administration, where he was deeply involved in establishing strategies for six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear program under the leadership of then deputy head Lee Jong-seok.

(englishnews@chosun.com )

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #2

Yes, this is really a ludicrous development. They no longer care what others think. Roh and his commie plants are not preparing for fight to the bitter end.

First, he will try to regain control of ruling coalition, which is trying to ditch Roh, and make him a full-blown lame duck, and rally around some figure who could be more palatable to public and electable as the next president. Roh is fighting it tooth and nail by polarizing the domestic political situation. He turns it into a confrontation between his radical band and Hannara Party, to the exclusion of all others. This means that anybody on the left or the right who may espouse centrist line(economically conservative, but socially, internationally liberal)will be pushed out.

In the process, Roh and his ilk will destabilize security situation. If they fail to regain control of the ruling camp, I think that they will take entire S. Korea hostage. They could threaten to destroy economy or national security unless they get their way.

I think we could be in a real rough ride. The worst nightmare of some hardcore conservatives may come true. The track record so far shows that Roh would not give up his power easily. He is a type who get a kick out of fighting to the bitter end. He revels in it. Orderly retreat is so worthless to him.