I read it and I still dont believe it.

Well the Korea Hate-Group wanted a Korean repsonse on September 11, 2005 and today The Korea Times has answered back.

Violence Over Statue
Obsolete Ideological Strife Hampers National Unity


The conflict between leftist and rightist activists over the statue of U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur turned to violence on Sunday, with dozens injured on both sides following their separate rallies near a public park in Inchon where it stands. It was their second physical confrontation in less than two months, triggered by the anti-U.S. activists' attempt to remove the statue, which was erected in tribute to MacArthur for his contribution to saving the South from a North Korean invasion. The feud, which is considered as conflict between the progressives and the conservatives, is further deepening the division of the nation in obsolete ideological discord, the tragic legacy of the internecine Korean War (1950-53). What is more serious is the fact that there is no solution to the conflict. It is feared that it will add fuel to the currently dormant but explosive confrontation between the progressives and the conservatives over the fate of the anti-communist law.

By any standard, leftist activists have gone too far, led by their belief that the statue's significance hinders inter-Korean reconciliation and unification. With the 55th anniversary of the Sept. 15, 1950 Inchon Landing around the corner, they have been stepping up their demand for an end to U.S. military presence in the South, using the MacArthur statue as their rallying point. Their extreme position can be glimpsed by that of a college professor who claimed in July that the Korean War was a war for the reunification of the divided peninsula staged by North Korea, which was aborted due to the intervention of U.N. allied forces led by U.S. troops.

It is impossible to imagine that we can enjoy the freedom of life as we do now if the South were communized by the North aided by China and the former Soviet Union. Even though we lived under suppression from authoritarian rulers of the past, it was no worse than what the people in the North have been suffering since the division of the peninsula. Nobody can deny that the North is one of the most severe violators of human rights, starving many of its people to death despite enormous food aid from the international community.

As leftist activists argued, inter-Korean cooperation should be further expanded to pave the way for the reunification of the peninsula. However, it is dangerous to achieve that aim at the expense of half-decade alliances between Seoul and Washington. To point out the prevailing tensions and instability on the peninsula because of the North's nuclear ambitions is now redundant. In this regard, anti-U.S. protestors ought to immediately stop their movement to remove the MacArthur statue for the sake of national unity.


09-12-2005 19:48

"They have gone too far"

I just love it, just when I think the Korea Times will never change, they surprise me.