Letter to the Editor: Chosun Ilbo

Headline 1: US Mulls Troop Withdrawal From Korea

Headline 2: PM Requests Delay of USFK Relocation

Today the US Secretary of Defense announced the likely
pullout of American troops from South Korea. As an
American whose father and uncle fought in the Korean
War, and who has visited Seoul numerous times, I must
say that the time for an American pullout is long
overdue.

During my visits to Seoul I was told to avoid the
American embassy as much as possible. It always struck
me as discgraceful the way the embassy had to be
protected with high walls, bomb netting, and riot
police. I was also instructed to hide my passport and
say that I was "Canadian" should anyone suspect I was
an American.

Korea has gone from one of the world's poorest
countries to one of the wealthiest in two generations.
In the 1950s Korea was known as the source of adopted
children; today it is known for its memory chips and
flat-panel TVs. South Korea engineered this
transformation with the help of the American
government and its people. Americans like my father
defended it, and Americans like me trade with it. We
have done these things because we believed that the
South Korean people shared our values of freedom and
fairness. Evidently this has not been the case.

There is no excuse for the anti-Americanism that has
become the norm in South Korea. As a businessman I
have watched in disbelief as South Koreans blame
America for nearly everything - including the
increasingly irrational behavior of their neighbor to
the North. I have seen Americans spit upon and beaten
up. I have seen our flag shredded and burned.

I have seen enough. If you want Americans out of
Korea, then we will take them out, and we do so when
we are ready - and not according to Prime Minister Goh
Kun's timetable. If you believe that you can handle
Kim jong-il without us, then so be it. Don't let us
stand in the way of your "Sunshine Policy".

What many South Koreans may not understand is how
September 11 has changed America. The same grim
determination which freed your nation is now being
used to protect our own. Iran and Al-Qaida are greater
threats to us than North Korea. Those 37,000 Americans
can be better used to rebuild and protect Iraq. They can directly help us
prevent a day like Sept 11 when secretaries and clerks
fell to the New York city pavement like rain.

America is not an occupying power. Since you don't
want us we are leaving. You are getting what you
wished for - an "equitable relationship" with the
United States. You can stand on your own - just like
we do.

Welcome to "equality"...