I think a large portion of that is explained by sheer stupidity and xenophobia that is far too common all over the world. Even here in liberal and cosmopolitan Northern California there are periodic outbursts against immigrants. It would be less embarrassing if we mowed our own lawns and wrote our own software. Sadly, Korea certainly has its share of xenophobes and bigots.

Another aspect can be explained by media sensationalism and the opportunities having a large contingent of US soldiers presents to such media. A large population of 20-something single men will always have much stupidity. Anyone who has lived near frat houses in a college town will agree with that. But when it is foreign soldiers doing stupid things, it makes huge targets for sensationalist media. Ham-handed and arrogant statements by the US military, and the usual share of cover-ups and miscarriages of justice never helps the situation. There is more than enough blame to go around.

I have not spent time in Germany or Japan which have also had large US forces for extended periods but I am guessing that the relationships with locals and the US forces is just as complex as it is in Korea. Some Okinawans certainly seem to want the US bases out.

There is also an overwhelming amount of positives as well. Koreans embrace much of American culture. The K-pop idol groups feature Korean-American kids amongst their members and a large number of Koreans send their kids to study in the US if they can afford it. Even the Left-wing politicians send their kids to the US to study! While President Roh Moo Hyun was getting under President Bush’s nerves, Roh’s son was getting an MBA at Stanford University.

On balance, I am far less worried about anti-Americanism breaking out into anything really ugly than the general psychosis that seems to grip South Korea. The rampant materialism reflected in the plastic surgery and Botox craze that Steven Yu wrote about is the worst of the symptoms. I have always felt Korea is in need of a counter-culture movement to rediscover its values. The problem is that the would be Bob Dylan’s and Joan Baez’s are all snatched up by the K-pop idol factories before puberty and turned into robots.

To be sure, I encountered far more anti-Americanism when I was going to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA than I’ve ever experienced in Korea…

The attitudes and behaviors of the people of Monterey, California, shouldn’t be generalized to all people living in the US.

That country is just going the wrong way. If the people there insist on placing priority on having plastic surgery and injecting themselves with Botox over working towards a better future, than all hope is lost.

(Yes, I’m Korean American, let’s not have someone come in here and get carried away by calling me a racist bigot)

I agree for the most part, and it should also be noted that the South Korean right hasn’t been any less guilty than the South Korean left in indulging in ultra-nationalism, xenophobia and anti-Americanism (supporting the U.S. military presence along the DMZ doesn’t always translate to an admiration of Americans themselves or American culture).

Still, I think Joshua is right about the amount of North Korean infiltration in the past decade, and it’s especially telling when the SK left does things like support the Kaesong Industrial Complex out of shallow nationalism despite the horrendous working conditions, low wages and prohibition on organizing.

Also, people who are dismissing Stanton points, have no idea. If you just visit South Korea on the surface you probably will never see any Anti American b/c of typical South Korean hospitality. However work in a multinational corporation in Korea and get into your South Korean coworker’s comfort zone and you can see that Anti Americanism run pretty deep even in the most benign and apolitical South Korean while North Korea is distant concern.

It felt it was good thing to American of Asian descent and not Caucasian b/c the Anti American protests in Seoul whenever they occurred can be a scary thing. My white colleagues never really felt threatened because of the police presence, but it made them uncomfortable.

The distrust of the Right is quite understandable if one grew up during the 25 years of authoritarian military dictatorships of Park and Chun. Back in the 70s and 80s, the South Korean government “cried wolf” far too many times to quiet dissent and hide corruption. The fact that North Korea did indeed pose a real threat and really did truly atrocious things (e.g., assassination attempts on the President, blowing up airliners full of construction workers who were coming home from the Middle East) kept us in line, but each time we were tricked I think most of us kept tally.

By the 1990s, South Korea had bulked up far too much for North Korea to swallow but the Right wing in South Korea still tried to use the same tricks. They were even more discredited when many of the hardline right-wingers themselves and their children were dodging military conscription. Serving 2+ years in ones twenties is one of the greatest sacrifices the suffering males of South Korea make so there is quite vehement hatred towards chicken hawks and that is exactly what many of the Right wingers in South Korea are perceived to be. There was much press about the fact that the vast majority of MB Lee’s security advisers had managed to avoid conscription.

President Lee got elected because after 10 years of the Left, South Koreans became tired of perceived incompetence. In spite of, or perhaps because of, the redistribution-ist policies of the Left, Korea’s economy is worse off and the distribution of wealth and income is becoming more skewed. We were willing to put up with some of the corruption again, but many feel the Right has lost its competence.

I think these trends probably reflect the South Korean political mood more than true support the North. In fact, the problem in South Korea is that people just do not care about the North Koreans at all. When reunification is discussed, people worry about the extra taxes they may have to pay and completely overlook the humanitarian tragedy.

The current looney Left I believe is likely to vote more to the right as they grow older. It will take some maturing and it is taking some weird turns but I definitely see it happening.

By the way, “he came top regret” should be “he came to regret.”

Jeffery Hodges

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I’d also vehemently disagree with points 4, 5, and 6, which I’d say are a bit out of left field, especially points 5 and 6. (I’d also point out that points 1,2, and 3 have been widely discussed in the Korean language press)