[KS] Draft for a Petition to Return General O^ Chae-yo^n's Banner to

[Eugene Y. Park]

Dear Thomas, Henny, and Other Interested Parties,

How about including other items besides just the commander's flag?  Wasn't
there also a fan on which the Korean defenders signed their names as a
solemn oath before the engagement? 

As far as the potential signatories are concerned, I think the petition
will indeed carry more weight if the signatories were all academics
teaching at American institutions (including full professors, associate
profs, assistant profs, lecturers, language lectors, etc.).  On the other
hand, I wonder if the rubric of "Korean Studies community" that covers
anyone interested in Korea would seem vague or even incomprehensible to
the U.S. policy makers.  In that case we might as well go for a petition
by signed by "all concerned Americans."  I think one can make a case for
either one-that is, having only the American academics as the signatories
(hopefully over a hundred) or obtaining a much larger number of signatures
from the "American public" (perhaps in thousands).  I think both are
feasible, given the medium of e-mail.

Here are some suggestions of mine on other specifics of the draft:

> We, the undersigned, request that the United States government return the
> flag of General Uh Je-yeon [commander of Korean forces on Kanghwa Island in
> 1871] that was captured by US forces in 1871 and now resides in the United
> States Naval Academy Museum.

Use "return to Republic of Korea ('Korea' hereafter)..."  Yes, I believe
that "Korea" is more than just South Korea, but returning the objects to
North Korea would be unrealistically difficult, if not impossible.

Is the Korean commander's name spelled "Uh Je-yeon" on the relevant U.S.
records?  If so, then we should stick with it; if not, then perhaps we
should use the standard McCune-Reischauer spelling ("O^ Chae-yo^n").


> by today's standards, unacceptable.  The United States ships sailing up the
> Salt River (between Kanghwa Island and the Korean mainland) could be
> compared to a foreign warship sailing up the Mississippi; the United States,
> no doubt, would have opposed such an action.

I think a better analogy might read: "The United States ships entering the
Kanghwa Strait only some [distance in miles] miles from Seoul is
comparable to a fleet of foreign warships sailing into the Chesapeake
Bay;"

Sicnerely,

Gene Park





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