Anti-Americanism in South Korea -- "Fucking USA" Song w/English translation

Edit：During the song when the singer asks, "Is America still a beautiful country?" this references the (Sino-Korean) word for the United States (미국 - 美國, literally "beautiful country"). I wrote about this last year and how the Sino-Japanese word for the United States is rice country (美國  vs 米國) -- the Korean and Japanese pronounciations for beautiful and rice are homonyms in both languages.

As I was re-reading my earlier post, I was thinking, "what on earth is a bicycle and spoke system?" Anyways, in the DeCal yesterday, I spoke about Anti-Americanism and the recent North Korean currency reform, which in hindsight, achieved what looks to be an economic atmosphere in North Korea that has a eerie resemblance to the situation policymakers in the U.S. (and the rest of the world) were trying to get us out of just a couple years ago.

But, with respect to Anti-Americansm, I guess I should've included this video in yesterday's class as it really puts things in perspective. Basically, what I went over in class is the understanding I came to have of the Anti-Americanism that was pervasive at around the time of the 2002 World Cup and immediately preceeding  following it. Well, here's the video. There's a translation in English (and Japanese) as well -- gotta love those Japanese Anti-Korean Youtube posts (I'm just joking, by the way. Nationalism in East Asia is not confined to Japan... ). But, anyways, you might find this video shocking when considering that South Korea is a U.S. ally, how much more beneficial the US-ROK alliance is for South Korea, and how South Korea owes a great deal, including it's very existence (on a side note, this directly brings up whether Korea would have been better off in 2010 had Korea been a unified Communist country back in 1950) and except in the direct development of its democratic institutions (a source of Anti-Americanism as disccused yesterday) to the United States up until very recently. Hopefully, the discussion in class yesterday will put a video like this in perspective.

And, during the U.S. - SKorea game, it wasn't just drunken guys singing this song -- it was very, very popular with almost all young adults and adults. The very same college and high school students, who after a gathering of 300,000 or so to watch a soccer game in mass and who would afterwards individually pickup the trash, were the very same people that sang this song. It wasn't just an extreme segment of SKorean society, but it was part of popular culture.

If you click on the Anti-Americanism label, you'll come up with a list of posts that in a nutshell is what was discussed yesterday minus the in detail description of the main issues and events that dominated the formative years of those those that voted to put Roh Moo Hyun in power.

The Power of Words and of Democracy, Japan, and Sarah Palin

I remember a few years back during the Good Ol' Days we had ... a George W. Bush as president of the White House. I didn't really appreciate what people meant when they believed the United States was the country most dangerous to world security and stability at that point in time yet. (See my post America the Dangerous). By the way, just as in the post below, please send me corrections. I would hate to think that I would be propagating something untrue.

Ahh. Those were the good ol' days. The U.S. economy was booming (after a sharp, but short-lived contraction after 9-11). Well, the U.S. President at the time, George W. Bush was in Japan for a summit with then Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi (I guess those were the good ol' times for Japan too... at least on a relative basis, considering the past twenty years now).

Oh, and on a side note, for those thinking the decline of the LDP and the recent dissolution of the Diet in Japan after the humilitating defeat of the ruling LDP in recent elections in Tokyo is the start of a new multiparty democratic regime in Japan.

Think Again.

Compare how Shinjiro Koizumi (former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's son has been "annointed" to succeed his father). This is straight from the Japan Times (Kim Jong Un is the son of Kim Jong Il reported to succeed his father once he returns to Mount Paekdu as the next ruler of the North Korean regime) :

"And, as Aera pointed out, the strategy for making sure Koizumi Junior gets the seat is strikingly similar to the one currently being carried out in North Korea. Even if Shinjiro is Koizumi's second son and not his third, he's 28 years old, the same age as Jong Un and Hidetada when they were picked for their jobs" ("My son, I give you power over the people" : Japan Times).

Anyways, well, when George W. Bush was in Japan, he did something amazing; he confused the word "devaluation" with "deflation." You see, Japan had been experiencing problems of falling prices -- deflation, for a very long time and it was the biggest issue in Japan at that time. So, if he were to meet the Japanese Prime Minister, it would be quite natural to talk about U.S. backing for Koizumi's strategy to flight deflation.

But, during the press conference after the summit:

"A remark by US President George W Bush about "devaluation" in Japan has caused confusion in the currency markets. The yen fell as some traders interpreted the comment as meaning the US favoured a devaluation of the Japanese currency" ("Bush gaffe hits yen" : BBC)

His exact words were:

"He [Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi] said I want to make it very clear to you exactly what I intend to do and he talked about non-performing loans, the devaluation issue and regulatory reform and he placed equal emphasis on all three" (Feb. 18, 2002).

The problem, you see, though, is that there was no devaluation issue at the time (Where, the U.S. would tacitlty approve a Japanese policy of trying to rid deflation by the Japanese Central Bank lowering the value of the Yen versus the Dollar -- in effect, exporting Japan's economic problems, which of course, the U.S. was not in favor of).

Ironically, that is exactly what the U.S. seems to be doing. But, more on this perhaps some time in the future since I just started studying this (it's basically what the second half of the course I am taking about is: EC321: Money and Banking), so in all fairness I don't really have an informed opinion.

But, on paper though, the U.S. enjoys an Exorbitant Privilege as the U.S. enjoys the ability to issue debt in her own currency (dollars) andat lower comparative interest rates (for example, treasury bills are considered safe debt to own) so depreciation is much more beneficial to the U.S. than say it would have been for Japan (but on a personal level, I think Japan should be commended for not depreciating her currency during this time when competitors in China and particularly South Korea went through a period of protracted depreciation, either explicitly (Korea) or implicitly (Japan)).

Of course, the fact that he "misspoke" cost like I believe a sharp drop in the value of the Yen, but the fact that one wrong word by this President led to billions of losses (or gains) by investors who were taking George W. Bush's words seriously is/was a pretty scary thought -- Thank God that there is no chance of a Palin adminsitration:

"This bombshell was unexpected, and makes it highly unlikely that she will ever be president" ("The passing of Palin" : Economist)

Anyways, when I first read that I just couldn't believe it. How on Earth could this not have gotten more media coverage? No, not with respect to Sarah Palin. That's more like (How on Earth could she have gotten so much media coverage?) But, more interestingly, here's this word that when spoken recklessly and carelessly by one person it has the power to affect all those that take him/her seriously -- especially if we are speaking of billions, well trillions, of yen.

Response: U.S./Democracy, Anti-Americanism

Jun brought up some good points that I think a lot of Koreans mistakenly believe in the Anti-American comments. His comments are here.

U.S./Democracy
I believe former President Chun (Shouldn't it be Jeon?) Doo Hwan "gave in" to U.S. demands (by President Ronald Reagan) that S. Korea should hold free and fair elections before holding the Olympics in 1988. This makes sense on a number of levels as you should think about what was going on in 1980-81. The United States naturally wanted to make sure that South Korea at this time was:

1. Prosperous (in 1980(or 81?), Japan under U.S. pressure, gave $4 billion in unconditional aid to South Korea to avert national bankruptcy.

2. Free (Democratic).

With free elections being held in 1987 and Koreans at this time actually choosing to elect another member from the military establishment (and along with the inability of the three Kims to agree on a unified candidate and the dynamics of regional politics in Korea) the U.S. should get much more credit for the establishment of democracy in Korea. I say this as demonstrations by the Korean middle class that led to Kim Young Sam's election was actually the 2nd free and fair election. Nonetheless, it may be hard for South Koreans to accept this, but even as the U.S. military didn’t intervene and only watched as South Korea’s populace was at times brutally repressed (Gwangju), the U.S. had a natural interest to ensure that South Korea was both free and prosperous.

That’s why even as the U.S. military didn’t intervene, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan pressed for democratic elections and pressed Japan to give aid to South Korea unconditionally). As you may very well know, the Olympics in 1988 were a success with boycotts coming only from North Korea and Cuba. Remember, in 1984 (Los Angeles, nations in the Communist bloc boycotted in retaliation for the western world boycotting in 1980 to protest Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan). By the way, a little bit of hometown pride here, it was the second time Los Angeles hosted the Olympics. Imagine that. With all the cities in the world, L.A. was chosen twice. So, I think it’s fair to blame the U.S. (a little) for just watching the brutal repression going on at the time, but at the same time you should also be able to credit the United States for South Korea holding free and fair elections. If that makes sense…

U.S./Democracy

When the Anti-American demonstrations were just starting to get crazy I was in Seoul (fall 2002, 연희동) from where the raging demonstrations/candle light vigils (in 광화문 and 시청) were not too far away. Here, I can sympathize and say there probably isn’t a country in the world outside of South Korea (and perhaps Iraq) where foreign soldiers have a base in the capital of a country, and especially not in the heart of the capital as in Seoul (Yongsan). Unfortunately, though, this isn’t America’s fault. The U.S. military base (picture above) in the Yongsan area in Seoul replaced a Japanese base that was there until the end of World War II. Of course, the Japanese soldiers that were stationed there replaced the Manchurian/Chinese soldiers that were stationed before they were. So, for a proud half of a nation, it must be hard to have foreign soldiers just walking around in the capital, but for many reasons and as history shows – this is not America’s fault. I lived in Yongsan (보광동actually) for a good two years and even I felt this. Of course, I never hear Korean protests against how there’s a high school, college, Taco Bell, Popeyes (American style), etc there. In practice and in the picture above, Yongsan looks like a small American suburb compared in the heart of the capital of South Korea. Though things might have changed I haven’t been there since the last time I was in Korea -- summer 2006. What’s worse though for Korean nationalism and pride is that there’s even a statue of King Gwanggaeto (a Goguryeo king who conquered a lot of land) right next to the base.

Also, I forgot where I read this, but if you take a look at any tourist brochure, and look at a map of Seoul you don’t see any reference to a base that is at the heart of the city. So, I can definitely feel this. I can’t imagine if there were foreign soldiers in Washington, D.C. or even Berkeley for that matter (though I hear the city passed an ordinance/law that makes it illegal for the U.S. army to open up a recruitment office in the city?)

Nonetheless, South Korean anger towards the U.S. regarding the death of the two school girls was irrational, unwarranted, and definitely manipulated by former president Roh Moo Hyun for domestic political purposes. I remember during this time (you also have to remember that this was around the time Iraq was invaded (Mar 2003), so anti-American feelings were crazy high as it was). But, I remember during this time all I had to do was point to South Korea’s own SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) with I believe Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan South Korea’s treaty gives South Korean soldiers the same extraterritorial rights that Japanese merchants got in the Treaty of Ganghwa. Moreover, South Korea did indeed get a renegotiation from the U.S. (and the same treaty that Japan has, where you don’t see large scale anti-American demonstrations). I would put money down (as I did on the Lakers game 5, moneyline) that if a U.S. soldier committed rape or the like then he would receive a sentence much harsher than any Korean national committing rape (especially, with rape being such a common crime in Korea unfortunately. I do love Korea by the way, so please don’t take these comments the wrong way). And, I’m definitely not a lawyer, but I believe that as long as a U.S. soldier is not on duty when he commits the crime then he falls under Korean jurisdiction. And, as having lived in Yongsan for a couple years, you see Korean MPs (헌병대s) all the time, particularly in the Itaewon district in Yongsan and they’re not there for Korean soldiers.

But, on an anecdotal level, I agree. I remember this one time I was in a car with all Korean-American friends crossing the Han river by way of the Hannam Bridge and there was one of those stops, where the police check to see if you were drunk or not. Well, the driver of the car, used an id of a Korean-American friend, who was in the U.S. army, to say that he was, well, from the U.S. army and that he couldn’t speak Korean. The police were too lazy and let us pass. I, of course, was shocked to see this, but, things like this made a huge impression on me at the time. Nonetheless, South Korea’s anger towards the U.S. for the death of the two school girls and the SOFA agreement is completely wrong and misdirected.

Anti-Americanism, Unfair and Unwarranted

I remember one night in Korea a few years back, I was eating at a street vendor(압구정동에 Rodeo길에) with a couple other Korean-American friends. We were of course speaking in English, but there were these two native Koreans there as well. One of them asked me if I liked Bush, the American president at the time, trying to provoke a druken fight...

I like to use the expression that the way in which countries treat each other has not quite matured to the same fashion as that of how people treat each other. Diplomacy between countries hasn't quite gotten there yet. But, I'd say America is an exception. In fact, I'd like to think that America is the only country in the world that actually does things because she believes she's doing something good for the world (well, actually, it's like a bi-polar thing, but that's been at the heart of American politics since the nation's birth).

A long time ago, but not that long ago, there was a country that actually believed that alcohol and problems caused by alcohol could go away just by passing a law. Very idealistic, you might say right? Well, this is the United States of America. During this time the Prohibition of alcohol gave rise to organized crime (yes, more crime and lots of corruption) as well as an entire genre of movies that have romanticized this period). But, I bring this up, to point out how idealistic and optimistic America is. Imagine that, alcoholism and drugs and broken families and the like can all go away just by passing a law. That's the United States of America.

These principles can still be seen in the War on Drugs. Most countries in the Western World have already de-criminalized the usage of illicit substances, such as marijuana. They believe it's just part of human nature that there will always be a select few that will be addicted to drugs and, people, if educated and then given a choice, will choose not to do drugs. However, in the U.S. things are different as the country follows a different morale compass (in that the country actually has a morale compass. Compare with the realpolitik eagerly practiced by China. Or the attitude with which Europe scolds American foreign policy.).

If you do drugs, you're doing something bad. If you do something bad, you should get punished.

Take the twenty or thirty year War on Drugs. While there may be huge industries that have and are benefiting from the War on Drugs, the War on Drugs continues as the U.S. has no problem shipping helicopters to Columbia or even trying to pass a free trade agreement in an effort to rid the supply of Cocaine, but the country can't come to accept that legalizing drugs is the "right" thing to do. Even now, the country still hasn't legalized Medical Marijuana (at the federal level) and it will probably take a fairly conservative Republican administration to demonstrate the limits of states rights... (Ron Paul would not be happy).

It's this idealism and perhaps naivete that also shows in America's foreign policy. America is indeed a country that believes she does things out of what is good and right rather than because that country is strong or this country is weak and America is big and powerful, etc etc.

Of course, you can also probably see this to explain why America has a death penalty and its penal system is more about meting out punishment rather than rehabilitating those back to a normal life in society. I forget which country had more executions last year, China or the United States. But, I do know that China has 1 billion more people than the United States and, oh yeah, China's still a communist dictatorship (not too optimistic about Democracy with Chinese Characteristics taking hold anytime soon)...

There are also these lanes in California, carpool lanes that the state continues to build. Yet, research has shown that carpool lines add to traffic congestion, but the idea that, carpooling makes so much "sense" that even as these lanes continue to make traffic worse in the state, these lanes keep getting built.

So, I say, it definitely would not be fair to say America is an evil country. I'd say the country is just very idealistic. I realize that the U.S. government stood by as military dictatorships crushed demonstrations and violated civil rights left and right in Korea, but nonetheless, to blame this on America is not fair nor is it just

But, also consider, and I might get shot by some Koreans here, that America saved Kim Dae Jung's life by bringing him to Japan, made former president Chun Doo Hwan promise to hold free elections in 1987 when the olympic were to be held in seoul (hodori, 1988), as well as of course guarantee the security of a nation for half a century so Korea could basically get all the security benefits of America's love of purchasing guns and nuclear weapons and missiles, not to mention get Japanese financial and technological aid at America's urging, and, of course, buy Korean products as the country openly practiced Mercantlism). By the way, no where is it written that developing countries should get special treatment from developed countries (you're invoking morality/ethics when you bring that in)...

So, definitely, America doesn't deserve this Anti-Americanism that seems so pervasive in America.

But yeah, I definitely do miss Korea and would love to go back. In fact, I signed up to study at Yonsei University this summer before backing out at the last moment (I've never been to London or Europe for that matter). I went to Yonsei for a quarter to study Korean and also lived in 연희동 for like a half year. And, Jesus, my sleeping schedule is a bit off.