[KS] Re: Maehyang-ri

[Yong-ho Choe]

I am very much bothered by this statement: "Granted, Koreans suffered invasion after invasion by foreigners for centuries."

That Korea had been a helpless victim of constant foreign invasions is an unfortunate myth that has absolutely no historical basis.  Examine the Korean history and try to see how many foreign invasions Korea had suffered, and compare that with those experienced by other countries, such as China.  Few countries on the Eurasian continent had enjoyed as much peace as Korea up until the the latter half of the 19th century.  Only after the late 19th century did Korea become a target of contending powers for hegemonic control.  The unfortunte myth--Korea being a victime of foreign invasions--must have started by the Westerners at this time, but it is not founded on historical facts.  We, starting with those on this list, should get rid of this myth once and for all from this time on.




At 10:09 PM 7/19/2000 -1000, you wrote:
>
>Although it is the publisher's perogative to select which letters are 
>printed in their newspapers, I believe that John's question is very valid. 
>Koreans dislike foreigners to a harmful degree. They need to understand that 
>not all foreigners desire to subjugate them. Granted, Koreans suffered 
>invasion after invasion by foreigners for centuries. Still, the foreigners 
>present in Korea are human, with good or bad intentions. Koreans should also 
>consider the individual before dimissing their foreign guests.
>
>Americans, especially those in the public sector (i.e., State Department, 
>Armed Forces, etc.) need to be more mindful of their hosts. If they desire 
>respect to be accorded to them, then they ought to show respect as well. 
>That is, they should treat all nations equally despite their level of 
>development. Unfortunately, the US government still maintains its Cold War 
>mentality that it still knows best and the whole world "be damned." (The NMD 
>program is a good example.) That's no way to show leadership and no way to 
>receive reciprocity by your global neighbors.
>
>Sincerely,
>Michael Choi
>
>>From: "John Harvey" <jharvey at nuri.net>
>>Reply-To: korean-studies at mailbase.ac.uk
>>To: <korean-studies at mailbase.ac.uk>
>>Subject: Maehyang-ri
>>Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 17:14:42 +0900
>>
>>Dear List:
>>
>>     Here's another letter to Korea Herald that didn't get printed, or 
>>hasn't been yet, anyway:
>>
>>
>>To the Editor:
>>
>>           Let's see what happens if we apply common knowledge and common 
>>sense to the problem Editor-in-chief Lee Kyong-hee discusses so movingly in 
>>her July 17 column "For whom do they train?" about the US Air Force bombing 
>>range near Maehyang-ri.
>>
>>          We know that there is also a ROK Air Force, whose pilots must 
>>surely practice the bombing and strafing skills they would need if 
>>hostilities broke out. Now, has anybody heard any complaints about their 
>>practice range? I certainly haven't. I suppose it's far enough away from 
>>the nearest village.
>>
>>          Where is this other range?  I don't know, but it's a fair guess 
>>that it's here, in South Korea, which means it's within a half-hour 
>>subsonic commute for any US jet based here. It can hardly be busy all day 
>>long every day, so why not just let the US jets share it?
>>
>>  John Harvey
>>
>>
>>
>
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>
Yong-ho Choe, Professor
Department of History
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Honolulu, HI  96822

Tel: 808 956-6762
Fax: 808 956-9600
E-mail: choeyh at hawaii.edu



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