[KS] anti-Americanism in ROK

[Horace H. Underwood]

Dear Mike,

Historically in Korea, as you well know, anti-American demonstrators have
been friendly and welcoming to individual Americans even while shouting
anti-American slogans(think of me blinking through the teargas at the Yonsei
main gate while the students tell me "we're so glad you came to see us
express our feelings.")  This time, however, there were more than the normal
number of incidents of physical harassment of individual foreigners who were
thought to be American, and not only of those who looked military.  These
incidents were widely reported in the international press, and I read about
them when I was in the US over Christmas and got a bit worried.  But now
that I'm back in Korea, the story appears different.

First, fortunately, the incidents seem to have stopped, as far as I can
tell; the "trend" is no longer "rising."  (The most recent demonstration was
60,000 churchgoers on the other side, who interestingly took care to
emphasize that they were not pro-American, but anti-anti-American.)  More to
the point, Fulbright has in Korea right now about 75 American grantees,
mostly young college graduates, mostly people who are not only American but
look like what Koreans think of as American.  These Fulbrighters have been
running all over the country for months; about a dozen have had siblings or
parents or grandparents visit them recently.  Though the Fulbright office
has strongly instructed all grantees to tell us about ANY incident, and
though all of them have heard startlingly anti-American sentiments from
Korean students and teachers, not a single Fulbrighter has reported a single
case of physical intimidation or even overt hostility directed at them
personally.

Tell your group to come.

Horace

Horace H. Underwood
Executive Director (Fulbright)
Korean-American Educational Commission
168-15 Yomni-dong, Mapo-gu
Seoul 121-874, South Korea
Ph:+82-2-3275-4000; fax:+82-2-3275-4028
hhu at fulbright.or.kr
www.fulbright.or.kr



 -----Original Message-----
From: Koreanstudies-admin at koreaweb.ws
[mailto:Koreanstudies-admin at koreaweb.ws]On Behalf Of mrobinso
Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2003 10:29 PM
To: Koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
Subject: [KS] anti-Americanism in ROK



  Dear List:

  I am working with a group who are preparing a study tour of Japan and
Korea this summer.  It has taken quite a while to get the organizers to
realize how valuable Korea is to such a tour.  Now I discover that the issue
of "dangers" and Anti-Americanism has clouded the issue or whether to
include Korea in this year's program.  We would be in Korea between roughly
June 20-28.

  My question to my colleagues living in the ROK is:  what is your
assessment as to the actual chances of our tour members being hassled or set
upon by Koreans who are upset at the recent string of U.S. gaffs on the
peninsula and the rising trend of anti-Americanism reported in the U.S.
press.  My sense is that there couldn't be a better summer to be in Korea
and understand the underlying dynamics that have driven political
development here for the last 50 years.

  I need some ammunition to use against my liability focused organizers.

  Thanks

  Mike

  Michael Robinson
  East Asian Languages and Cultures
  1011 East 3rd Street
  Bloomington, IN 47405-7005
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