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Here is an article in the Korea Times that really bothers me:

Last week, the Association put up a big display in the newly remodeled shopping area across from Central Station. The occasion was the 60th anniversary of independence from Japanese colonial rule, but they were looking back a little farther, all the way back to 1905, in fact, when Japan formally annexed Korea. Each signboard in the display had a little logo commemorating the 100-year anniversary: 40 years under the Japanese, 60 years under the Americans.

The creators of the signboards put them in chronological order, pulling out all the stops to blame the U.S. for just about every evil that has befallen Koreans in the past 100 years.

These sign boards were put up in the blue collar city of Ansan by the People’s Solidarity Association blaming America for everything within the last 100 years of Korean history which coincidentally enough mirrors Unification Minister Chung Dong-young historical allegations against the US last month.

The signs first of all blamed the US for annexing Korea to the Japanese in 1905 As I have stated before, the US was protecting its colonial interests in the Philippines at the time and had no responsibility in defending Korea against Japan. The people that should have been defending Korea at the time, this may shock some of the revisionists, are the Koreans! Koreans have the responsibility of defending their own country. The lack of modernization and internal bickering caused by the ineffective leadership of the king and the corrupt yangban class is what made Korea easy pickings for the Japanese.

Also America in 1905 was not the America of today. We did not have an Army and a Navy that could just pickup and go to Korea and defeat a competent military force such as the Japanese. The US did not even have the ability to defeat the Japanese if they attacked the Philippines much less Korea. This was proven true decades later in World War II.

The US made the right decision for its own national interests at the time. The ultimate responsibility for national defense relies with the nation itself. The Koreans have defeated past Japanese aggression before with competent leadership which is what they lacked in 1905 and that is not America’s fault.

The sign boards were also blaming America for the division of the peninsula. It is true that America divided the peninsula by occupying South Korea, I can’t argue that. I guess the People’s Solidarity Association would have rather had the Russians occupy the whole peninsula so that Korea could be united. How many people are willing to bet the Russians would of packed up and left and that Korea would have the economic might it has today? Eastern Europe should serve as an example of what Korea would have been. It would have been a Soviet client state with an authoritarian government, low living standards, and a stagnant economy. Not the dynamic Korea of today.

An additional sign board of course blamed the US for the Korean War, which once again the United States came back and freed the southern half of the peninsula after the South Koreans could not defend themselves once again in part to poor leadership from the Korean President and internal strife between capitalists and communists in the south. Then of course no anti-American display would be complete without the Nogun-ri incident being brought up, which I have already previously posted about.

The final example from the article I will provide of the historical revisioning going on, is that the US gets blamed for the Gwangju Massacre. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t that tragedy involve Koreans killing Koreans? The US military does not control the ROK Army in peace time only in war time. Plus does Korea really want the US military taking an active role in their internal affairs?

I fully agree with the columnist’s closing points regarding this revisionism going on in Korea:

I saw two problems with the display in Ansan. One is that it was an effort to whitewash history, a subject that Koreans ought to be particularly sensitive to. When I walked by it, the display was crowded with school children who had just gotten out of class. What the Solidarity Association is doing is teaching these impressionable youth to hate America without giving them the full historical picture or the capability to judge for themselves.

The second problem is that _ and you won’t hear me making this argument too often _ the Americans are being mistreated in what should otherwise be a civil democratic debate.

These same groups that accuse the Japanese of whitewashing history are the same people whitewashing Korean history to fit their own distorted political agendas against the United States. Plus they are focusing their propaganda on the Korean youth. Many in the younger generation do not have the life experience to decipher propaganda from fact and take much of the propaganda to be the truth.

Finally this whole topic of the USFK withdrawal from Korea should be a civil debate. The US obviously wants to have a smaller footprint here with the continuing troop withdrawals from the peninsula and the plan to relocate USFK forces away from the DMZ to the Pyongtaek area south of Seoul. If the US forces are not wanted here than Korea should have a national referendum on whether to withdraw USFK forces from the peninsula. The problem is that no ROK political leader wants to put themselves out on a limb pushing for a USFK withdrawal because the economy may suddenly collapses afterwords which they would be blamed for. A strong leader would push for this referendum none the less but the current ROK leadership doesn’t even have the political leadership to get a land deal in Pyeongtaek done right now.

Liberation after World War II, 36,000 lives lost during the Korean War, and over 50 years of stability and economic development on the Korean peninsula provided by the United States should be worth at least a face saving withdrawal off of the Korean peninsula instead of this crap we are going through right now.

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If you haven’t had enough anti-Americanism for one day read this additional article in the Korea Times. I can always count on the Korea Times to provide me the latest in anti-Americanism.

Korean female golfers continue their recent surge of success with Kang Soo-yun bringing another LPGA title home to Korea:

Five years after debuting, South Korea’s Kang Soo-yun finally claimed her first LPGA title, also marking the 15th Korean _ South Korean or of Korean descent _ winner in the tour, at the Safeway Classic in Portland, Ore., Sunday.
Kang scored a 3-under 69 in the final round, to a three-round total of 15-under 201, four strokes ahead of compatriot and British Open winner Jang Jeong to earn the fifth Korean title of the season. With $210,000 in prize money, Kang jumped to 13th place on the Tour’s money list at $633,417.

It marked a memorable tournament in Korean LPGA history as the top five spots of the leaderboard were all occupied by Koreans for the first time. Gloria Park followed Kang and Jang in third at 10-under 206, leading Kim Joo-mi by two strokes. Yim Sung-ah shared fifth place with Beth Daniel of the United States at 7-under.

Of course, Nomad has plenty of good pics of the latest sexy Korean female golfer.

South Korea’s newest heart throb is not even Korean; he is, get this an American from Michigan:

A somber crowd at Tom Ford’s ready-to-wear fall 2005 Gucci collection in South Korea erupted into cheers as 25-year-old Daniel Henney strode into the spotlight in a tight fitting, all-black outfit earlier this month.

“Women gushed and sighed all night as they peered — again and again — into their digital cameras and mobile phones that captured the distant image of Daniel Henney in three impossibly sexy Gucci suits.”

Henney’s mom was also at the event and learned full well what Korean mobs, or what I like to call ajumma rugby is like:

“It was unbelievable the things they asked him to sign — shoes, clothing, pictures, ultrasounds of their babies…” she said.

“There had to be at least 500 people there,” Christine said. “We walked in and all of a sudden we just heard everybody scream, cameras going off. It’s unbelievable the way everybody recognizes him. We almost got smothered and had to run out the back without eating.”

His mom is actually an interesting story as well because she was left at the doorstep of an orphanage when she was an infant:

A highlight of the trip for Christine was visiting an orphanage she had been adopted from by Americans in 1958. This was the first time Christine had been in Korea since she was an infant. She and her son visited the site of the former Isabelle Orphanage in Pusan, where her parents had left her on the doorstep.

“I wanted to get the feeling of the sense of the orphanage and how the children were cared for and what they were like,” she said. “It was quite emotional. When I got out of the car and saw the building that they had searched and found for me, I was just overwhelmed.”

She was adopted at 1 years old by American parents and moved to America. Her son hopes to become a spokesman for mixed race orphans here in Korea. He should contact the American USO because they run good programs that support many orphanages around Korea. I’m sure they would appreciate his help.

I think more ROK Army soldiers will be ready to commit suicide if this plan goes through:

In a campaign to boost the morale of its conscripted soldiers, the Defense Ministry released four new rap and pop songs that were recorded by soldiers who are also famous performers.
Among the performers are Private Yoon Kye-sang, former member of boy band g.o.d., Private Hong Kyung-in, a former actor, and Private Park Kwang-hyun, a former actor and singer.

An official who participated in the project said, “Using these songs will show the Army’s effort to improve its image.”

Only in Korea.

A no drinking order put out by the 2ID commanding general has created a stir with local bar owners in Dongducheon:

Dongducheon bar and restaurant owners met 2nd Infantry Division officials recently to complain about an alcohol ban imposed on troops during a training exercise this month.

According to Hodges, both parties walked away from the meeting understanding each other’s position, and KSTA leaders agreed to place the 2nd ID order banning soldiers from drinking during the exercise at the entrance of entertainment establishments, Ivey said.

I doubt the Dongducheon bar owners will be putting up a banner asking LTC Hodges to go to Afghanistan, but they are unhappy over the policy.

I like this quote from the article though:

The policy that bans soldiers from drinking states: “Consumption of alcoholic beverages is inconsistent with the readiness that U.S. Forces must maintain when deployed to defend our national interests, and it is equally inconsistent with effective, realistic training.”

Drinking hampers readiness during the training exercise but we will let the soldiers go to the club and consort with drinky girls all night and that has no effect on effective realistic training?

Only in 2ID.

I would be surprised if this is allowed to happen:

The Air Force lieutenant charged in an alleged shakedown of bars outside Osan Air Base while leading an Air Force police team that patrolled the bar district has asked the Air Force to let him resign instead of court-martialing him, officials said Wednesday.

(…)

“Lt. Davis has requested resignation in lieu of court-martial …” commonly called RILO, said Smith. “Each request is evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the secretary of the Air Force and takes into consideration all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the case.”

“It’s a standard provision that an officer facing a court-martial can ask to resign instead of going to trial.… Any officer facing court-martial has this right to request this,” Smith said.

The military allows you to resign instead of facing prosecution for low level crimes, however how is what 1LT Davis done considered to be a low level crime? With the emphasis on prostitution and human trafficking the military has here in Korea plus the publicity this case has received in the Korean media; I really see no way that he will be allowed to resign and walk away. Plus he still has to face trial for crimes he committed that broke Korean law. To make matters worse for him he is an officer which makes the crimes more serious because officers are held to higher standards than compared to a private, and rightfully so. Like I always tell soldiers, do what your rank can handle.

Something else to piss Seoul off with:

Backed by a $2 million budget, a former adviser to President Bush will take charge of a high-profile effort to advance human rights in North Korea, even as negotiations on the country’s nuclear weapons program enter a critical stage.

The appointment Friday of Jay Lefkowitz, who helped shape domestic policy at the White House, frees Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill to concentrate on efforts to end the weapons program.

The South Korean government cannot be to pleased by this because they will look at this as provoking the North Koreans during this time of six party talk negotations that are currently in recess. The South Koreans would prefer to turn a blind eye to human rights violations in North Korea and deal exclusively with brokering a deal that gives North Korea lots of free stuff in return for behaving the next few years until they need more money and the next crisis arrives. From the South Korean viewpoint, things like human rights only tend to complicate things.

Korean national soccer team coach Jo Bonfrere is on the hot seat after his teams 1-0 defeat to Saudi Arabia:

The Dutchman has already steered South Korea to its sixth consecutive World Cup finals in Germany, but a string of lackluster performances has sparked calls for him to step down from the media and fans.

“All options, including whether to dismiss Bonfrere, will be discussed at the meeting,” Yonhap quoted the official as saying.

It is true the national team has been playing like crap lately. I watched this last game against Saudi Arabia and the Korean team had plenty of chances for goals but the players kept missing their shots. I don’t know if you can blame the coach entirely for that. The players should feel some heat to as well. The complaint I always found humorous about Bonfrere was that he doesn’t communicate well with his players. Of course he doesn’t, he does not speak Korean. If people want a coach that communicates well hire a Korean coach.

However, I wouldn’t be totally surprised if Bonfrere isn’t coaching the national team next year for the World Cup Finals. The team is playing so bad now they might just need a change though I don’t totally blame Bonfrere for it, but he is ultimately responsible.

The Korean film industry continues its success with the recent release of three very popular films:

That three films in completely different genres should be enjoying such a harvest in as many weeks is seen by the movie world as a good omen for Chungmu-ro, Korea’s Hollywood. The industry had been on the brink of crisis due to financial problems, controversy over the power of star actors and an offensive by Hollywood blockbusters, with the viewer share of Korean films plummeting to 32 percent in July. With the three films, it has bounced back quickly to 64 percent as of Monday, according to CGV statistics.

Film critic Shim Young-sup said the news was particularly welcome at a time of almost unprecedented concerns about the Korean film industry. “The significance of major productions like ‘Silmido’ is still there, but it’s particularly good news that the three films have firmed up the backbone of the Korean film industry with a new character.” Lee Seung-jae, president of major film producer LJ Film, said it was significant that the three were not light comedies or fashionable films but rather in a line of “well-made commercial films” that have appeared since 2002. “Rather than being movies in the same vein that squeeze each other out, the three films of very distinct genres worked a synergy effect,” he said.

I for one look forward to when these movies come out on DVD. If you have never watched Korean movies you really are missing out. The majority of DVDs rented from Korean movie stores have English subtitles. There really is a wealth of high quality Korean movies that are worth checking out.

Soldiers who tore off the rank of a convicted rapist may now face punishment for their actions:

A U.S. military judge in South Korea will hold a hearing next month into an incident in which soldiers stripped rank chevrons, ribbons and other items from a soldier who’d just been sentenced on a rape conviction, officials said Monday.

But as he stood there, they also began methodically stripping his Class A green uniform jacket of everything but his buttons and name tag.

Public humiliation is something you have to be very careful about in the military. I saw a battalion commander get in trouble before when he paraded a soldier that was convicted for drunk driving in front of the battalion formation.

I doubt anyone will get in too serious of trouble for this but this should serve as a lesson to everyone that even convicted rapists have certain rights that have to be respected.