Latest Look at the K-Blogosphere in the Joong Ang Ilbo

The Joong Ang Ilbo’s Niels Footman, has his latest article up covering the Korean blogosphere. In the article he covers the variety of opinions within the K-blog community over the Hines Ward mania and even quotes my site in his article:

For the host of “GI Korea,” much may hinge on Mr. Ward himself.
“If he stays active in the problem then maybe things will change. If not, then a month after he leaves all will be forgotten until the next famous mixed-race person comes around.” But, he continues, “President Roh and Koreans in general should have been addressing this problem long before Hines Ward showed up.”

Yes, they should have. Yet changing attitudes in a country that has for so long adhered to half-baked notions of racial homogeneity is bound to take time, and any help is surely welcome.

I actually think less is riding on Hines Ward now and more on his mom who has been speaking her mind on this trip and she may ultimately become the person that can change perceptions in Korea with her blunt talk about the status of mixed race families in Korea.

Mr. Footman also goes on to talk about the anti-US protests during the RSOI training where US Marines assaulted by anti-US hate group members:

This week, the fuse was lit by pictures of Korean protesters manhandling U.S. marines at a joint U.S.-Korean military exercise. Joshua at “The Korea Liberator” speaks for many when he says:
“The authorities had no excuse for failing to prepare for it. The response was also characteristically slow.”
Certainly, it beggars belief that just two policemen were posted on the beach, and as “GI in Korea” points out, one can only imagine the furor had one of the marines retaliated against any of the protesters.
Also doing the rounds in the blogosphere is a video montage of anti-American protests from the last year.

Don’t forget the Korean government has vowed to get tough on the anti-US protesters after the assaults on the US Marines. I guess the crackdown on the US protesters doesn’t carry over to protecting the young draftees who serve in Korea’s riot police that had the crap beaten out of them during last week’s Camp Humphreys protest. If the Korean government wants to do something to stop these violent protests, then put these people in jail and fine the hell out them. I’m all for free speech and descent. If these people want to stand outside Camp Humphreys and yell “Yankee Go Home!” all day and light candles fine, but these hate groups don’t have the right to bash the police with metal pipes, destroy vehicles, set fires, kidnap and beat US soldiers and force them to make statements on national TV, among a host of other crimes that no one is severely punished for, which only encourages this activity. The Camp Humphreys relocation issue to going to be the single issue that will define the US-ROK alliance for years to come and it could go either way because the government still hasn’t come out strongly against the hate groups thus enocouraging them to continue their activities. It will none the less be interesting to see what happens.