IN SOUTH KOREA, ANGER AT U.S. SPREADS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05T02051R000200350080-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 12, 2011
• Sequence Number: 80
• Publication Date: June 7, 1988
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/12 : CIA-RDP05TO2051 R000200350080-3
JIHI
,-ASHINGIYJN POST
NFW YORK TIMES _-
DATE rf
~HI in South Korea, Anger at U.S. Spreads
By SUSAN CHIRA
Special to The New York Times
SEOUL, South Korea, June 6 - Ever
since American troops died defending
this nation in the Korean War, Amer-
icans have basked in the gratitude of
the Korean people. But now the image
of a benevolent America is being called
into question as a new wave of anti-
Americanism moves off campus and
into the mainstream.
Students have long denounced the
United States as a repressive force in
Korean politics, accusing Washington
of pressing a Cold War ideology that
divided Korea into two nations and sup-
porting Korean dictators. But even for
the majority of Koreans who reject
such virulent anti-Americanism, the _-
new openness of political debate is
prompting a more detached, more
critical view of the United States.
Increasing anger about United
States pressures on Korea to open its
markets and pay for more its defense
is dovetailing with a growing national
pride. As South Korea emerges as an .
economic power and looks toward the
summer Olympics here, a new self-
confidence feeds an old xenophobia
nursed over centuries of foreign inter-
; ference.
New Freedom of Expression
"Questions about the role of America
have been in Korean minds for a long
time, but they haven't been discussed
openly," said Lee Chui, an opposition
politician. "Americans say they are
losing economic power, but we see they
are rich, much richer than us. Amer-
ican pressure makes Korean farmers
and workers mad. American realpoli-
tik has led It to deal with immoral and
illegitimate regimes."
Students, who have long called for
the withdrawal of American troops as
a prelude to reunifying the two Koreas,
are freer to express these ideas more
openly in the new political climate.
While most Koreans do not support
such drastic measures, they are voic-
ing resentment at stepped-up Amer-
ican pressure to import cigarettes and
beef, and are starting to chafe at the
pervasive American cultural and polit-
ical influence here.
Even as Seoul prepares to host the
Olympics, a showcase for nationalism,
Koreans encounter constant reminders
of American influence. Of all the for-
eign embassies, only that of the United
States flies its flag on Seoul's main
boulevard next door to Korean Govern-
ment ministries and near the statue of
Admiral Yi, the hero who saved Korea
from Japanese invasion in the 1500's.
A major American military base,
Yongsan, occupies prime real estate in
the heart of Seoul, its 'rolling green
Continued From Page Al
lawns and split-level homes a minia-
ture of suburban America. American
television beams into Korean homes
through the broadcasts of the Armed
Forces Korea Network.
Some Koreans resent what they see
as American cultural arrogance.
"Americans probably see Korea as in-
ferior, and it hurts our pride," said
C. H. Kim, a 27-year-old captain in the
Korean Army. "All the shops in the
area around the bases use English.
Why do they have to use English and
not Korean?"
While few Koreans support the stu-
dents' call for troop withdrawal, Presi-
dent Roh Tae Woo has said he wants
South Korea's defenses to be self-suffi
cient by the 1990's.
'Simple Resentments'
Part of the problem, Americans here
say, is that Koreans still seek to rally
American support for their causes
while trying to push Americans away.
While Korean students denounced
American intervention, they asked the
United States for support when they
took to the streets last June and forced
the Government to adopt democratic
changes. While Kim Dae Jung criti-
cized the United States for being too
close to Mr. Chun, he was willing to ac-
cept American intervention when Mr.
Chun's Government condemned him to
death for sedition.
Ambivalent About History
Koreans display a similar ambiva-
lence about their own history, looking
back with anger - and a touch of
shame - at a series of foreign inva-
sions over many centuries by Mongols,
Chinese and Japanese, among others.
Some*Americans, however, argue that
Koreans tend to overemphasize their
own helplessness in the face of foreign
power and underplay their share of re-
sponsibility for the tragedies of the
past.
"Yes, anti-Americanism is spread-
ing, because its fits the psychological
flow of the period, which is resentment
over the junior status of the Republic of
Korea in the relationship with Amer-
ica," said a Westerner who has long
studied Korean politics and who has
lived in this country for almost 30
years. "One of their problems is the
agony of being under the influence of a
strong outside power to which officials
have kowtowed to one degree or an-
other. The other aspect is a generation
who doesn't know the Korean War and
embraces whatever is useful in sus-
taining the damage to their ego as they
look at their history. There is a tempta-
tion to see foreigners as being responsi-
ble. That way, they don't perceive their
own folk as being all that bad."
American officials are bracing for
more criticism as the legislature pre-
pares to investigate the Kwangju inci-?
dent. The crushing of the protests
helped consolidate former President
Chun Doo Hwan's grip on power, but
many Koreans, citing the close Amer-
ican relationship to the Korean mili-
tary, blame the United States for either
masterminding the harsh military re-
sponse or acquiescing to it.
"We are going to come in for a beat-
ing in the short term," said an Amer-
ican diplomat. "In the long term it will
come out okay, and I hope we'll be
viewed in a more objective light. There
is total agreement in our government
that for a really healthy relationship,
there's got to be more equilibrium."
Signs of this new attitude abound. A
Korean businessman who numbers
American diplomats among his friends
rails against American immorality for
pushing American cigarettes on the
Korean people. The opposition leader,
Kim Dae Jung, though critical of stu-
dent violence - like a recent attack on
the United States Embassy - has said
that he can understand student anger
and has called on the United States to
prove its commitment to democracy
by supporting changes here and dis-
tancing itself from the Government.
Revisionist historical theories that
blame the United States for dividing
Korea are openly discussed in universi-
ties.
To some Koreans, the protector is
becoming a bully that compromised its
political ideals by supporting the au-
thoritarian rule of former Presidents
Syngman Rhee, Park Chung Hee, and
Ch n Doo Hwan.
u
Choi Chang Yoon, a senior ruling
party lawmaker and former high-rank-
ing Government official, traces two
strains of anti-American sentiment
here. One, he said, is the product of
"simple resentments" of American in-
fluence and trade pressures and a cor-
responding surge of Korean national-
ism. "That kind of anti-American senti-
ment is possible in any bilateral rela-
tionship between a superpower and a
country under its influence," he said.
"We don't worry so much about that
category, because it's natural, as anti-
Americanism is in Canada or Germa-
ny "
But he is more concerned about the
students' ideological anti-American-
ism, which he said was influenced by
North Korean propaganda, and how it
may be influencing the public.
The student protests are highly vis-
ible, and they have become increas-
ingly violent in the past few weeks. To-
day, a student who set himself on fire
Saturday to protest the American and
Government roles in the Kwangju kill-
ings died. It was the third student polit-
ical suicide in a month. In the Kwangju
incident, in May 1980, Government
troops killed hundreds of demonstra-
tors in an uprising in the southwestern
city.
"Nowadays, anti-Americanism as an
ideology is beginning to spread to peo-
ple who have simple resentments," Mr.
Choi said. "It's becoming very compli-
cated."
It is impossible to estimate what per-
centage of South Koreans hold anti-
American views, although it is clear
that people who criticize the United
States range from the average man in
the street to some powerful opposition
politicians. While Government policy
remains resolutely pro-American,
South Korea's new commitment to
democracy means officials must heed
popular sentiment - and opposition
politicians, who now hold a majority in
the legislature, are taking a harder line
on trade issues.
"In the past, I vaguely thought of
America with good will, but not any
more," said Y. N. Chung, a 32-year-old
carpenter. "It doesn't mean I don't like
America. Now I can see what is good
and what is bad." ___ __ -
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/12 : CIA-RDP05TO2051 R000200350080-3