Islamic Terror in South Korea?
That’s been my worry ever since I was there, and apparently, the South Korean authorities are worried, too. Generally, the “camp follower” subculture that grows up around a U.S. military installation is right outside the gate. In Seoul, that subculture is in Itaewon, several blocks away. Itaewon ended up being the most “foreigner-friendly” zone in Seoul, which attracted third-country nationals and eventually, a large mosque. Today, that mosque sits right on top of “hooker hill,” the, um, intercourse of the most purient what Korea sells, and Americans (and others) buy.
When you watch bearded Pakistani men in pakhol hats and shalwar kamiz walking past that, looking like they just stepped out of a Peshawar madrassa, you can’t help wonder if someone won’t eventually see some of those clubs as soft targets. Yes, I worry.
OH MY GOD, you mean to tell me that Islam has come to the land of soju and samgyepsal. This is one of the reasons why I thought SK was safe cause it had little if not any Muslims at all. Great, just friggin great. So when are the are throat cutters who are the practioners of the religion of peace gonna attempt to ban soju, pork belly, and soondae? Better enjoy those Korean dramas while I still can before Korean women start wearing burquas.
I think the Muslims who set up their mosque on Hooker Hill are very brave. Hopefully, they can clean up some of the lewd behavior in that area.
Those lewd Muslims. Brave of them to introduce themselves to the mingling odors of Chanel No. 5 and budaechigae, though. You could get a skin rash from that. Might even cause episcopalianism.
I hope that they don’t apply Shariah to clean up the lewd behavior. The unfortunate women would be beaten, lashed, or stoned — as if their lives weren’t bad enough already.
Jeffery Hodges
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Who is gonna be brave enough to open a mosque in Pyongyang?
Itaewon would offer equally soft targets without the mosque, so having it there raises no greater profile. I’m glad to see the shalwar kamiz back in style on Fridays. For a fair amount of time after 9/11, the attendees at the mosque took pains to wear western style clothing. It’s a pity that no high ranking U.S. official ever went over to the mosque to let the local muslim community know that we respected their beliefs and were privileged to have them as neighbors.
If that ever happens, invest in a secret underground shelter.
The Itaewon mosque was built in the 1970s, and there was/are mosques in Pusan, Daegu, Jeonju and Kwangju.
There are of course Korean muslims, but you don’t hear much about them in Korea. As for threats, while the local police are a joke, Korean immigration seems to be relatively efficient at keeping out the riff-raff (although they did let me in).
This weekend I met with a Pakistani friend who I met in Korean language class in the 90s in Seoul. He went on to get a PhD from KAIST and is now a professor in Islamabad. He’s been in the States for a couple of months doing research at an East Coast university. Previously I wrote about the perceptions of some of his Pakistani colleagues in Korea concerning 9/11.
Every time we meet I ping him for public opinion in Pakistan concerning the U.S. He believes it’s at the lowest point he’s ever seen (with the caveat that he was out of the country from 1999-2005 to study in Korea).
His perception is that many say they hate “America†although upon asking a few questions it’s more of a case of hating the Bush administration rather than the U.S. Apparently there is a love-hate dynamic similar to that in Korea, with an undercurrent of admiration for a lot of what America stands for, but burning hatred for other parts.
“Why?†yielded the obvious; Afghanistan, Iraq, and most recently Lebanon – “Israel couldn’t have done it without American bombs,†and the perception that the U.S. was in Iraq for oil. When I asked if he thought a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would help he said that he defiantly thought so.
Disturbingly, he also noted that Pakistan is currently “very close†to Iran due to the perception of the U.S. attempting to force Muslim countries into submission. He’s mostly apolitical and immerses himself in scientific work, but was still not happy about how the role of the U.S. in the region. Still, he tends not to buy into conspiracy theory as must as the average Pakistani.
On the brighter side, and much to my relief, his trip to the U.S. has fundamentally altered his view of America and Americans for the better. Perhaps he’s just comparing it to his years in Korea, but he has found Americans to be extremely friendly and accommodating, from his colleagues at the university, to his landlady (who has never had a foreign client before), to shopkeepers and random persons.
Lirelou said: “It’s a pity that no high ranking U.S. official ever went over to the mosque to let the local muslim community know that we respected their beliefs and were privileged to have them as neighbors.”
But we don’t respect their violent primitive wife-beating beliefs, and from India to Aceh to Europe, it is an onerous trial to have them as neighbors!
We (the U.S.) should absolutely not respect their desire to set up sharia courts in West, as they did in Canada, let alone the other primitive beliefs.
I certainly don’t see much tolerance, pluralism, or respect for others’ beliefs in the Muslim world. I see no evidence to support the existence of a silent majority of moderate Muslims. The largest bloc of moderate Muslims appeared in Iraqi elections, but not a majority. Iraq and Lebanon are the only two countries where I see any reasonable prospect for a pluralistic society forming in the next 5 years. I wish it were otherwise.
I do know that I’m tired of all of the guilty apologies to Muslims every time someone points out that their religion is primarily represented by violent men and professional mob-inciters. I’m also tired of the unspoken prohibition against drawing the obvious association between Islam and terrorism. I’m breathlessly waiting for the peace march or the tolerance movement that never seems to appear. Until then, I reserve the right not to respect that belief system, while making exceptions for individuals who choose to live by civilized standards. Maybe when Muslims perceive that they have an image problem, that silent majority will be motivated to stand up and represent Islam and its believers as moderate and tolerant.
In fact, I don’t think the text of the Koran is inherently more violent than the Jewish and Christian texts, but Jews and Christians have learned to interpret their texts in the context of a civilized world.
A recent example of Muslim intolerance is their widespread outrage at what the Pope said about Islam. The Pope’s comment is no excuse for violent acts against Catholics.
Islam is almost a totalitarian religion because it doesn’t allow dissent.
However, one good thing about Islam is that it would never allow something like Hooker Hill to exist.
Mi-Hwa,
You act as if “Hooker Hill†is the only site of prostitution in Korea. There are prostitution districts outside of every major train station in Korea (there aren’t THAT many U.S. bases in SK). You can blame prostitution on the U.S. if it allows you to demonize U.S. Soldiers and feel like prostitution hasn’t been/isn’t deeply ingrained in Korean society, but it was here before USFK existed and will be thriving long after the U.S. is gone.
To Red Forman: I wasn’t blaming the US soldiers for prostitution in SK. I was just pointing out that Islam is the most effective way of stopping prostitution because it has zero tolerance for it. In countries that are Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, pagan or secular, prostitution is widespread and sometimes out of control.
One major benefit of not having prostitution is that Muslim countries have little or no AIDS epidemic. Another good thing about Islam is that they don’t have drunks and bars.
What’s interesting is that Islam has gained a foothold in Thailand, the center of sex tourism. Perhaps the presence of Islam is much needed in that country.
If I understand Mi-Hwa, she dislikes Islam for its intolerance, but she respects it for its intolerance.
Anyone who doubts the long historical pedigree of prostitution and paid female companionship in Korea has never heard the term kisaeng, or that profession’s most famous practitioner, Nongae. Yes, I know that kisaeng were not prostitutes like the throngs of prostitutes lined up next to glass windows at Miari, Pyongtaek Station, 588, or any of dozens of places where it is practiced most openly. But as I’ve pointed out, neither are most of the juicy girls in Itaewon. They are specialists at cheating dumb young soldiers out of as much money as possible without providing any services.
Mi-Hwa, you are a fount of ridiculous assertions. Many Muslim countries, particularly the Arab ones, have a tradition of pederasty (boy buggery) and other homosexual conduct on the down-low. It figures: They hate women. Ever hear “A woman for sons, a boy for pleasure (and a goat for sheer ecstacy”? There are a lot more folks with AIDS in teh Arab world than they or you wish to admit.
Let’s hear it for zero tolerance!
http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/stoned_to_death
YES
US Soldier Good
Christian Good
others no
???
Prostitution DOES exist in Islamic countries.. some more than others. I lived in the UAE for a year where I was able to count 5 mosques simply by doing an about face at ground level… Prostitution is HIGH there and very cheap. The prostitutes are usually Chinese, Russian, Polish, and a few others. The customers are not Americans, but Arabs. It is not typical Islam that does away with prostitution (or any other crime), but TOTAL control over the individual. They don’t advertise the extremely high suicide rate among the women; especially women who WERE the first and only wife, but are now rated less than the second, third, or fourth wife…… They say that all wives are treated equal, but this is a farce. I have seen it.