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China-Japan-Koreas
SKorea Focuses Anger Over Hostages on US
2007-08-03
SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea's frustration over the plight of Christian volunteers seized by the Taliban is starting to focus on the United States, a frequent target of resentment here. Politicians and citizens of all persuasions are increasingly calling on Washington to help resolve the 15-day-old standoff, believing the United States to be the only country capable of pushing Afghanistan to meet the captors' demands that Taliban prisoners be freed.

The United States has so far simply said it remains in contact with the South Korean and Afghan governments on the issue. As the hostage crisis drags on, South Koreans are increasingly questioning what they have received from the U.S. in exchange for sending soldiers to support the U.S.-led coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The course of the crisis could affect a presidential election this year in this key U.S. ally on China's doorstep. An anti-American backlash could boost liberals who have increasingly pushed for Seoul to assert its independence from Washington at the expense of the conservative pro-U.S. opposition that now holds a commanding lead.
Which in turn could cause us to wash our hands of the Korean peninsula.
A delegation of top South Korean lawmakers left Thursday for Washington to press their case for an exception to the U.S. policy of refusing to make concessions to terrorists.

Richard Boucher, a senior State Department official, said the United States is not ruling out military force to free the hostages. But a South Korean official said Foreign Minister Song Min-soon and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte had agreed during a meeting Thursday in the Philippines to rule out a military attempt to end the standoff.

Afghan officials said the volunteers' captors have agreed to meet with South Korea's ambassador, though they had not yet agreed on a venue.

In South Korea, a nightly candlelight vigil calling for the South Korean hostages to return home safely has recently moved to a new site in central Seoul next to the U.S. Embassy. Some protesters have carried signs with a U.S. flag being smashed by a fist and appealed to the White House: "Bush: Don't kill, negotiate."
So the Talibunnies will execute the hostages and Bush will be labeled a 'killer'. Haven't we seen this movie before?
Candidates in South Korea's December presidential elections have been happy to play the populist, anti-American card, which finds resonance in a country often torn between greater powers. "I want to ask what kind of judgment the U.S. government would have made if the 23 hostages were Americans," Chung Dong-young, a well-known liberal presidential hopeful, told reporters this week.
That's different. We look after our own. You're welcome to send the SKor Marines to Afghanistan and look for your people.
Posted by:Steve White

#26  Whenever the Norks threaten, the Sorks blame the US for provoking them. So much for the billions spent of Sork security.
Posted by: Phinert de Medici8649   2007-08-03 17:24  

#25  No doubt the usual SK suspects are trying to stir up anti-US sentiment, but a perusal of the English-language South Korean media leads me to believe that the WP-AP is exaggerating the SK-US divide in regards to this matter.
Posted by: mrp   2007-08-03 16:29  

#24  "just because a foolish Korean pastor chose to bring a group of ignorantly well-intentioned, grandmotherly, church ladies with him when he returned this year."

That is absolutely true. At what point do the people who engage in nonsense like this have to be held personally respnsible for their actions? I sure as hell wouldn't take a busload of folks from MY church traipsing around the Afghan countryside.

What the hell did they expect? And now it is OUR fault because THEY are idiots? Hell, I wouldn't take a busload of church folks riding around parts of Oakland, let alone Afghanistan.
Posted by: crosspatch   2007-08-03 15:05  

#23  Re: #9, N Guard "Maybe Vlad Dracul had the right idea after all."

Word. And afterwards, the smaller pikes could be used for a pigroast.....
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2007-08-03 14:36  

#22  Taking another angle at it...note that while they *loathe/despise* us, they also claim that the U.S. is the only one who can "do something about it" (which, in reality, is true).

But also, just the thought of us agreeing to help release 8-10 Talibunnies (who will go back to the battlefield to face our soldiers) for 23 or so Korean naive missionaries is absurd. The only part of this equation that I agree with is the ratio of lives (1 Korean worth 3 Talibunnies) is a good start. Complete opposite from the Paleo demands of the Joos, in terms of lives-ratios.
Posted by: BA   2007-08-03 14:21  

#21  Gosh, I'm sure sorry your missionaries didn't have enough sense to stay out of a war zone!
Posted by: mojo   2007-08-03 11:23  

#20  Agreed Darth,

You only have to go there to know that Anti-Americanism is like Starbucks to Korea - everywhere. Sorry to burst the it is the MSM bubble.

And yes, with them, it will only get worse.
Posted by: bombay   2007-08-03 09:38  

#19  Actually it was Rep. Robert Goodloe Harper, chair of House Ways & Means, 6/18/1798, when the French under Napoleon had seized some US ships and wanted a substantial bribe to release them. He told 'em to get stuffed. Same idea, different asshats.

As for SORKS, they can get stuffed too. Our deployment of 30K+ US armed forces there is based on a 50+ year old UN agreement and an outdated political theory (anti-Communism and "domino theory").

As to what they got - what sinse & TU said. At the cost of: 36574 US dead, 103284 US wounded, 7224 US POW, 8176 US MIA, and 21 former US citizens as new SORKS absolutely free.

Posted by: sofia   2007-08-03 09:26  

#18  Almost every soldier I know that has been over there wonders what the hell we are still doing there

Because of politicians who live in the beltway never never land. It's the State Department playing games with our troops for their ego edification. "See, we're important." Allied with the organization empire builders at the Pentagon who should have learned from the Philippine experience, that the troops should have been home before 2000. If the SKors can't defend themselves by now - tough. Its military welfare for the, relatively, rich.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2007-08-03 09:07  

#17  As the hostage crisis drags on, South Koreans are increasingly questioning what they have received from the U.S. in exchange for sending soldiers to support the U.S.-led coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For starters:

1. About 35,000 dead Americans from 1950-1953 enabling you to have the right to act like the ungrateful bunch of assholes that you are.
2. The fourth largest economy in Asia and the twelfth largest in the world.

I suppose I could add stuff like "a diet not based on tree bark and pond scum", "electricity"... but why get picky.
It'll make it easier for everybody if from now on you tell your religious quacks to stay out of a place where there's a war going on with people who would like nothing better then to have them for dinner. Literally.
The old man landed at Inchon, fought his way into Seoul and froze his ass off at Chosin Resevoir. These people piss me off.
Posted by: tu3031   2007-08-03 09:01  

#16  TELL THE SOUTH KOREANS THEY ARE NOT EATING TREE BARK OR SPEAKING MANDARIN. THATS WHAT THEY GOT
Posted by: sinse   2007-08-03 08:21  

#15  Despite what the reality checker says (and I do appreciate you!), anti-americanism is ramped in SKOR. Especially among the young. The people who can remember the war still are very strong supporters of the US, but the North's propaganda for the rest of the population has worked wonders. Almost every soldier I know that has been over there wonders what the hell we are still doing there. SKOR is more than capable nowdays of defending itself from the North's temper tantrums (with a little help from our air power) and I fully believe we should pull all of our forces out, as it is only going to get worse. Americans are being treated like the Jew in Europe.
Posted by: DarthVader   2007-08-03 08:05  

#14  South Koreans are increasingly questioning what they have received from the U.S. in exchange for sending soldiers to support the U.S.-led coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan

My nomination for quote of the week.
Posted by: gromgoru   2007-08-03 07:44  

#13  Bobby,
"Millions for defense..." was said in response to demands by Muslim pirates of North Africa; the response was the deployment of 'Old Ironsides', among others. A most appropriate quotation for this article.
Posted by: Glenmore   2007-08-03 07:27  

#12  If everybody would just surrender to those with the meanest, nastiest disposition, everybody'd be happy!

Who was it that said, "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute"? Some old guy, I think.

Thomas Jefferson, I believe.
Posted by: Bobby   2007-08-03 06:26  

#11  Told you. A bunch of idealistic morons goes dancing around a combat zone, and all the sudden it's our fault.

This may well force the Afghan government to forbid all missionaries and other NGOs -- or even all foreign civilians -- entry into the country, just because a foolish Korean pastor chose to bring a group of ignorantly well-intentioned, grandmotherly, church ladies with him when he returned this year. The Taliban and the tradition of banditry continue to cost Afghanis dearly.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-08-03 06:16  

#10  2nd Infantry Division, declare victory and come on home! Let the North and the South join in eating Spot.
Posted by: Besoeker   2007-08-03 06:06  

#9  Behold displacement in all its glory.

Maybe Vlad Dracul had the right idea after all.
Posted by: N Guard   2007-08-03 05:57  

#8  A bunch of idealistic morons

So which "idealistic morons" shall we blame? Those in the Oval Office? The Liberal Left? The Fair Weather Allies™?

Despite all previous convictions, I no longer am so inclined to vent my wrath upon the Oval Office. There are far too many recipients of the USA's largess who simply refuse to admit that American culture is superior, whereby I'm happy to see all of them steamrolled into so much glassphalt.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-08-03 04:59  

#7  Told you. A bunch of idealistic morons goes dancing around a combat zone, and all the sudden it's our fault.
Posted by: gromky   2007-08-03 04:14  

#6  This is just words that someone sitting at a keyboard pecked into a computer. They are attempting to create a reality here, not reporting on a reality that exists.

Thank you for the reality check, crosspatch. Sometimes connecting previous behavior over to exaggerated crap the MSM spins up is a little too easy.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-08-03 04:13  

#5  Keep in mind, too, that just because the Washington Post writes something, it doesn't make it true. Sometimes the media likes to attempt to create a general reality by taking a position held by only a few and portraying it as being a more popular position than it really is. That tradition goes all the way back to Ben Franklin.

The article does not quote a single ROK official and only reports on one candlelight vigil. And they use language like "An anti-American backlash could boost liberals" which basically translates into "if we can inflate this big enough and CREATE a backlash ..."

This is just words that someone sitting at a keyboard pecked into a computer. They are attempting to create a reality here, not reporting on a reality that exists.
Posted by: crosspatch   2007-08-03 03:20  

#4  WORLDTRIBUNE/EAST-ASIA INTEL > US CDR Tom Keating > China proposed it + USA formally split the Pacific Region/Ocean into bi-lateral spheres of influence, wid China controlling WESTPAC whilst the USA controls EASTPAC. *RADICAL ISLAMISTS COMPLAIN WHERE'S THEIR BETEL NUT; RUSSIANS P *** OFF AT MACKENZIE BROS., CLAIMING ARCTIC - News at 11. D *** ng it, WHOOPI GOLDBERG IS NOW ON "THE VIEW"!
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-08-03 02:21  

#3  Good Lord, what the hell has happened to the South Koreans? They used to have balls...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo)   2007-08-03 01:47  

#2  Politicians and citizens of all persuasions are increasingly calling on Washington to help resolve the 15-day-old standoff

May I suggest a method similar to that by which we deal with North Korea? As in, no negotiations at all without unconditional terms.

This is ingratitude writ large and South Korea needs to go piss up a rope.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-08-03 00:43  

#1  How many people did the US lose defending that state? How many are there now defending SKOR?
Posted by: newc   2007-08-03 00:23  

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