tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post3204084658419190823..comments2024-03-18T07:07:53.346-04:00Comments on Ask a Korean!: Quick Thought about PSY's Past Anti-American LyricsT.K. (Ask a Korean!)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07663422474464557214noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-4383665893452466762014-02-12T15:23:39.717-05:002014-02-12T15:23:39.717-05:00Yeah, we are ALL guilty. Not one of us has a past ...Yeah, we are ALL guilty. Not one of us has a past or present free of blood on our hands or oppression. Violence breeds violence simple as that. At some point we will have to say that enough is enough or not, who knows. <br /><br />It seems in this article people want to "understand" hatred, I refuse. I do not care about current conflicts why, when and where. I understand it is going on and emotional reactions to it are natural.<br /><br />Violence was not invented by the US nor is the US military more tyrannical then other military's in the past. It would be nice if the world decided to let the past be the past and create a peace love and harmonious future that protects individual freedom of choice. I have no faith in that. So we can understand feelings all we want it is not going to change the past. <br /><br />They say no one can ever take away your education no matter what they take from you. Well I think it is simpler then that. No one can take away your determination to love and smile; these are the true gifts of life. Hatred of anyone just allows them to rob you of that. I do not pretend to know where it all began or where it all ends. All I know is we are all guilty. <br /><br />RAPE is a massive problem EVERYWHERE around the WORLD not just everyone's military but everywhere.<br /><br />I found this blog while looking for something about a cafeteria that serves hamburgers on Samsung's Digital City Campus. I have been told the walls are covered with Anti-American sentiment but I have not yet found anything on it. I was wondering if it was modern day propaganda or a relic from the past. I think it is something that US citizens who buy Samsung products would be interested in. <br /><br />This isn't just about lyrics from a band and where they came from. It is about where the country is going. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-37168190057834683262013-08-01T16:54:34.281-04:002013-08-01T16:54:34.281-04:00I know I'm late this article, but I just found...I know I'm late this article, but I just found your extremely well written blog this week. Thanks for continuing to write.<br /><br />There were several comments (I assume from fellow US citizens) that suggest the US military remove itself from the Peninsula. This appears to me to be a response to some commenters' perceived ingratitude of the Korean people towards US support, and furthermore it appears that these commenters view our military presence in Korea as a charitable, selfless venture. I would argue that the people who create and execute US foreign policy view our military presence in Korea (and Japan, Germany, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc) as strategic positions in securing global US hegemony first and foremost. In other words, the relationships S. Korea & other countries have with the US is not one of supplicant-patron. The US maintains an outsize influence over the foreign & military policy of both natural resource heavy economies & advanced industrial economies because of our military presence in those countries.<br /><br />Furthermore, these countries continue to be large customers of the US Military-Industrial Complex, which itself hold significant sway over US policy. <a href="http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2013/07/01/Israel-seeks-5B-in-US-loans-to-buy-arms/UPI-49641372706630/Israel" rel="nofollow">Israel</a>, <a href="http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/137348/humza-ahmad/behind-japans-big-arms-buy/" rel="nofollow">Japan</a>, <a href="http://www.asianewsnet.net/Seoul-plans-to-purchase-US-weapons-worth-$800m-47227.html" rel="nofollow">Korea</a>, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/01/us-usa-asia-arms-sales-idUSBRE90005D20130101/" rel="nofollow">Taiwan</a>, <a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/27/usa-arms-sales-idINL1E8JRAN920120827/" rel="nofollow">Saudi Arabia</a>, and many other countries are major customers US made weapons. Often times, these countries are bankrolled by the US government itself in the forms of loans or "aid" to help these countries buy more weapons from US manufacturers. Needless to say, these sales directly benefit the US weapons manufacturers, and it is in the interest of these manufacturers that weapons orders keep coming in. The projection of US military power overseas in the form of missions & permanent military bases also serves as excellent advertisement for the US Military-Industrial Complex.<br /><br />The recent ouster of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is a perfect example of the special & self interest that drives US military & foreign policy. Consider the refusal to classify the Egyptian military's removal of Morsi as a coup; the US government is prevented from giving military aid to governments undergoing a military coup. If the US cuts aid to Egypt, <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-26/cutting-military-aid-to-egypt-puts-the-u-dot-s-dot-in-a-box/" rel="nofollow">Lockheed's $2.5 Billion contract to supply Egypt with F-16's</a> could not be fulfilled. As a pmk812 stated above, these intricacies should raise questions for those who would believe US foreign & military policy are driven solely, or even primarily, by altruistic intents. <br /><br />On a tangential note, I would highly recommend <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-Present/dp/0060838655/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375384383&sr=1-1&keywords=a+peoples+history+of+the+united+states/" rel="nofollow">A People's History of the United States</a> to all of my fellow US citizens. As the Noam Chomsky interview cited by mockavel above makes clear, there is much unacknowledged history that would give us a better understanding why the present is the way it is.Andrew Choihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04640311721304031870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-91336146608837062732013-02-01T04:04:56.378-05:002013-02-01T04:04:56.378-05:00Helen Melon12/12/2012 11:34 AM
Excellent movie, ag...Helen Melon12/12/2012 11:34 AM<br />Excellent movie, agreed...<br />"What about KKK hate speech?"<br /><br />Actually Helen Melon, hate speech in general is protected by the First Amendment. Barring a direct order to attack or facilitate a crime against any person/group. <br /><br />(5) As for the Korean War, if you ask students in Korea today, many of them will tell you that they're not grateful to the US because they believe we only intervened for our self-interest. Right, because so many countries are willing to sacrifice 100,000 of its finest just to be nice. When was the last time Korea was willing to lose thousands of its men for an altruistic purpose?<br /><br />Geez Helen. "According to the data from the the United States Department of Defense, the U.S. suffered 33,686 battle deaths, along with 2,830 non-battle deaths during the Korean War and 8,176 missing in action." 2nd of all Altruisitc??? C'mon. So the US didn't have kill Red fever? The US didn't want to secure a land port ally on the steps of China/USSR? <br /><br />Helen I like you. Stay naive kid.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-6216409284297967462013-02-01T03:42:24.694-05:002013-02-01T03:42:24.694-05:00Helen Melon 12/10/2012 11:53 PM
While we're on...Helen Melon 12/10/2012 11:53 PM<br />While we're on the topic of ignorance...<br /><br />Sorry, my reply button isn't working. <br />Helen Melon, help me understand your argument. If a faction commits a wrong they have no right to protest/prevent future unjust acts??!? So If Koreans do something they shouldnt complain when someone else does it? So all the Caucasians in the US shouldn't complain about Afro-Americans commiting crimes in the US right? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-16005183902479987222013-01-22T15:45:27.689-05:002013-01-22T15:45:27.689-05:00Americans simply don't understand how much the...Americans simply don't understand how much the world hates them. PSY wasn't the first and not the last. For as long as the US interfere on countries with strong national identities like...pretty much every country in the world, and never taking responsibility for their actions, instead continuing to believe that others hate Americans because of the freedom and democracy (which let's be honest, many analysts have compared the US to Nazi Germany when it comes to freedom and democracy. Depending on the analyst, US is either identical or worse than Nazi Germany), people will still continue to be mad at them.<br /><br />However, despite the majority of the people in the world hates Americans (fact), few are vocal, and even fewer take actions against US. Hating Americans is one thing, but what if someone actually "killed the motherfucking Yankees"? PSY would be responsible for murder. So, it might have not been the one to do it, he still would be responsible for it. What if many launched against the "motherfucking Yankees"? It's hard to obtain guns in Korea, the US soldiers would make a blood bath out of Koreans. I'm glad things didn't escalate.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the best thing to do is not falling at the level of those disgusting US soldiers (not all US soldiers are like that). I'm not Korean, but I understand how Koreans would feel. Still, PSY apologized, let's not make things worse now. Jordan J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12712661712601036182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-27568052718425503692012-12-31T01:34:57.337-05:002012-12-31T01:34:57.337-05:00I did not in fact label the Korean Independence Ac...I did not in fact label the Korean Independence Activists communist, if you read my post again. The point I'm making is there have been many such independent democratic nationalist movements in history in various times and various places, and they have been repressed. Historically, some have called themselves 'communist', some have not, but, regardless, they have been labelled as such by the western democracies seeking to discredit them; however, it was not my intention to discredit the Korean movement of that time by association. Don't assume I am being 'western-centric' or assume you know what my definitions are.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17226758157157715512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-79722686302767497402012-12-30T17:21:56.167-05:002012-12-30T17:21:56.167-05:00excuse me? no, wrong. the Korean Independence Acti...excuse me? no, wrong. the Korean Independence Activists were NOT "Communist" but rather NATIVE Koreans that were merely fighting against Japanese colonialists. Korea was fresh from being a hermit kingdom pretty much. There was hardly any communism/marxist knowledge, do NOT label Korean things with your western-centric mind. It was NOT Communist but a pure Korean democratic independence movement. Just like when the Filipino people were protesting against Spain then U.S. occupation, it was NOT communist but native citizens democratic movement. <br />Don't twist and label Korean history to try to fit your definitions.mockavelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01422632387190422163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-49860515002747981612012-12-27T23:08:29.632-05:002012-12-27T23:08:29.632-05:00What if it was there to protect you from the Russi...What if it was there to protect you from the Russians, say?Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17226758157157715512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-27836427327310924382012-12-27T23:05:32.589-05:002012-12-27T23:05:32.589-05:00These facts about Korea are fairly well known. Sim...These facts about Korea are fairly well known. Similar things happened in Italy and Greece after WW2. In Italy the resistance, largely communist, liberated the north from the Nazis 3 weeks before the allies got there and had started running the place before the Allies stopped them. In Greece the local, again communist or left-libertarian anarchist, forces were suppressed by violence by occupying British forces after the end of the war. As in Korea, I believe the democracies enlisted the support of former fascists or fascist collaborators.<br /><br />Anyway, now the daughter of one of those former Japanese collaborators is President of SK...Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17226758157157715512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-25876331483602524662012-12-26T07:09:32.058-05:002012-12-26T07:09:32.058-05:00excuse me? whether Korea has hostess bars is none ...excuse me? whether Korea has hostess bars is none of your concern as U.S. having hookers in Las Vegas and random neighborhoods is none of ours. Yes, Psy venting his lyrics was severe as was US military soldiers standing around taking pictures during the Bodo League Massacre that killed women and children. these are ACTUAL WOMEN AND CHILDREN by the thousands, not just lyrics you know? so instead of derailing a musician writing/venting about his nation's anger and frustration and pain and this history that YOUR country has a direct hand in, how about you learn when to sit down and be quiet. He's not "spreading" but EXPRESSING the emotions he feels towards that violent history U.S. is directly liable for.<br />Maybe instead of only condescendingly suggesting he be soo sorry and sincere in apology, you should make equal efforts to look into why.<br />Also, artists and musicians and people have a right to voice their opinions and emotions.<br />and dont worry about Korea's "public drunkeness, domestic violence and rape" that's for Koreans to work on, why don't you worry about those same exact things that go on daily in U.S. and mind your business.<br /><br />Feel free to read below my post quoting Noam Chomsky on some little known facts about what really went down.mockavelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01422632387190422163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-6254457933670450672012-12-26T06:32:39.936-05:002012-12-26T06:32:39.936-05:00I strongly disagree with the statement that "...I strongly disagree with the statement that "that U.S. played a vital role in securing freedom in South Korea. Without USFK, there is no free Korea." Noam Chomsky spoke on this vital and not widely known historical truth concerning Korea:<br /><br />WOMAN :Could you say a few words more about the origins of the Korean War? I take it you don’t accept the standard picture that it began when the U.S. moved to block a Communist expansionist invasion.<br />NC: Well, the fact of the matter is that the Korean War is much more complex than the way it’s presented in mainstream circles. In this case, incidentally,the scholarship is considerably better than is usual, and if you look at the serious monograph literature on the Korean War, you’ll see that a different position is presented than the one we always hear.<br /><b>The 1950 North Korean attack on the southern part of the country was really the tail end of a long war. In fact, before North Korea attacked the South in 1950, already about 100,000 Koreans had been killed—that’s something we forget.<br />What happened in Korea is essentially this. When the American forces landed in 1945 at the end of World War II, they found that an already functioning local government had been set up. There had been an anti-Japanese resistance, and it had established local administrations and Peoples’ Committees and so on, all over North and South Korea. ( In other words, democratic movements had already begun establishing themselves, Koreans were already creating their freedom northern region and south). </b><br /><br /><b>Well,when the United States moved into the South, we dismantled all of that, destroyed it by force—we used the Koreans who had collaborated with the Japanese, and in fact even reinstituted the Japanese police to destroy it all [Japan had occupied Korea for 35 years until its defeat in the Second WorldWar]. And that led to serious conflict in the South, a rather bitter conflict which went on for four or five years with a lot of people killed</b>, and also there was a lot of cross-border fighting at the time (going both ways, incidentally). Then there was sort of a lull, and then came the North Korean attack going south.<br />So there was definitely a North Korean attack, but it was an intervention by the North into the South after the United States had suppressed the anti-Japanese resistance movement in a civil war. Now, that puts a slightly different color on it than the standard line we hear.<br />For example, if some country were—let’s say—to conquer the western part of the United States, and there was resistance against that conquest,and then the resistance was suppressed with say a hundred thousand people killed, and then the Eastern part of the United States “invaded” the Western part, that wouldn’t be just an invasion: that would be a little too simple.And something like that happened in Korea.<br /><br />---------------------<br />Also, if you examine U.S. foreign policy and military behavior elsewhere as in Vietnam, Indonesia's Sukarno, how they handled the Philippines, where they first "helped" the Filipinos resist their Spanish colonial power in the Spanish-American war, only to ignore and deny their own independence ceremonies and democratic election to enforce themselves in the country causing the Philippine-American War.<br />This behavior suggests regardless of the reason, U.S. does not respect democratic free governance in countries they occupy.<br /><br />Also we cannot forget things like No Gun Ri, Bodo League Massacre, their support of Chun Doo Hwan and his subsequent Kwangju oppression. There's more but basically, U.S. should get out of Korea. mockavelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01422632387190422163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-32092937650295421332012-12-26T03:50:37.440-05:002012-12-26T03:50:37.440-05:00It's not just the reported beating by USFK sol...It's not just the reported beating by USFK soldiers. It's the whole attitude of some USFK soldiers. And the attitudes are a mixture of the following:<br /><br />-yes S Korea wouldn't exist if US didn't stop N Korea <br />-tinge of racism<br />-cultural difference<br /><br /><br />http://www.international.ucla.edu/korea/article.asp?parentid=113294<br />"He also recalled that during his Army stint he was repulsed by the behavior of many fellow G.I.'s towards South Korean employees and locals they came in contact with near the demilitarized zone."<br /><br />dbagoohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01977941497214583229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-740180758787595432012-12-26T03:08:36.043-05:002012-12-26T03:08:36.043-05:00BEST analogy of the PSY story and USFK presence in...BEST analogy of the PSY story and USFK presence in S Korea. Too bad no one even remembers or cares about PSY's anti-US rant.<br /><br />Next time some S Korean stirs up some anti-US stuff, I will make sure to point them to this blog.<br /><br />Yeah, how would American or New Yorkers react to a foreign army being stationed in the Central Park?dbagoohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01977941497214583229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-25563075499787893362012-12-17T01:42:05.832-05:002012-12-17T01:42:05.832-05:00People should stop pretending that the discipline ...People should stop pretending that the discipline among the US military men stationed in Asia has not been a huge problem. The rape incidents, abandonment of women and children, and rising crime rate is just a proof of this. This isn't exactly a surprise since the quality of people who are being recruited into the military has been drastically lowered after 9/11. People don't seem to realize that the crime rate among the US military men station in both Korea and Japan have gone up drastically in the last ten years. The troubling trend is that many of these crimes are of violent nature such as the high profile rape incidents in Korea and Japan. As one of the commenters said the easiest solution to fixing this problem would be to put all US military men under lockdown in their bases just like they do to us ROK soldiers. When I served in the ROK military other than getting paid this was the biggest difference between Korean soldiers and US military. We are stuck in the base 24/7 and are never let out unless we get a leave once every few months while US military men are let out of their bases freely to cause problems that young men cause. Locking them up like Korean soldiers would drastically reduce the crimes that are committed by US military men against Korean citizens but it would definitely come at a high finacial cost for the business owners who cater to these soldiers near the military bases.shyn5877https://www.blogger.com/profile/01774203785021338514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-25139986138201020892012-12-17T01:36:41.822-05:002012-12-17T01:36:41.822-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.shyn5877https://www.blogger.com/profile/01774203785021338514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-43344931893535001762012-12-16T01:37:24.202-05:002012-12-16T01:37:24.202-05:00Brits are blasted for even a hint of a sneer or a ...Brits are blasted for even a hint of a sneer or a jab at Americans. So there is a racist double standard here but it works in the opposite direction to what you think.<br /><br />Or maybe it's that people (in the West anyway) get worked up over minor slights more than serious verbal attacks? I blame postmodernism. And the corporate media. They're always reliable blamees.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17226758157157715512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-54019521145515614762012-12-14T09:55:33.451-05:002012-12-14T09:55:33.451-05:00Hi Korean,
Thanks for the article about this, it ...Hi Korean,<br /><br />Thanks for the article about this, it helps put into perspective how's Psy's mind was like when he wrote those lyrics. <br /><br />My question is, why does anybody even care ? I like Psy because his music is good, I don't care if he eats meat or he's not a vegetarian. <br /><br />Why are lyrics from like 5 to 10 years ago, so news worthy? Would this have happened if Psy wasn't Korean ? Would it have happened if he was British ? <br /><br />Is this subtle racist news reporting that we are getting from these news organization ? <br /><br />Why are people so angry ? <br /><br />I believe that if you liked his song, and then you came to know about these comments and then didn't like his song, then maybe you didn't like the song to begin with, but liked it because everyone else liked it, and now that Psy is considered "anti-american" all of a sudden it's uncool to like his song, so as the sheep you are, you don't like it. <br /><br />That's my take on this whole situation anyways. <br /><br />(Imagine if LMAO, was uncovered to have lyrics to a song about Killing People In America, would people be up in arms about ? I don't think so. _)Langknowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07673776101881395255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-26397239987319926702012-12-13T23:08:45.811-05:002012-12-13T23:08:45.811-05:00"Kill all those among the Yankee big-noses wh..."Kill all those among the Yankee big-noses who torture Iraqis" vs "Kill all those Iraqi-torturing big-nosed Yankees"? Either is unacceptable, but I'm curious too as to which was meant in the original Korean. And how the audience at the time generally understood it (as opposed to how people claim to understand it now).Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17226758157157715512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-60660910064303073802012-12-13T12:27:25.834-05:002012-12-13T12:27:25.834-05:00I tried arguing the same point on FB ...that he wa...I tried arguing the same point on FB ...that he was young and passionate and already anti-establishment because that's the nature of the music he writes. Buzzz....didn't work. You know how it is these days in the U.S. culture. Everything comes with a price. Every small slight, every large insult, sexual slip, accident, youthful mistake and on and on MUST BE PUNISHED. That's the nature of our rugged individual, every man for himself, personal responsibility society we've created. No one gets a pass, be it putting mentally challenged people on death row to limiting a woman's access to birth control so they won't have sex, this society expects us all to be perfect or pay for it. Makes you nostalgic for a time when a traffic accident got you ticket instead of an indictment or if you got in trouble in school you got time out instead of juvenile detention. It's really insane, you can't just be human and make a mistake, or think one way 8 years ago but have changed your mind now. oldgalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14300942268456541949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-35990940274152390782012-12-13T12:14:53.790-05:002012-12-13T12:14:53.790-05:00Thank you Bummy Korean guy my point exactly...if y...Thank you Bummy Korean guy my point exactly...if you need to get outraged over something let it be something or someone that has the power or the inclination to ACT on those words. This just reaches a level of silliness that makes my brain feel numb. Don't these people think that if S.Korean death squads were going to start killing off U.S. military families they would have done that by now. oldgalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14300942268456541949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-38398178930848015622012-12-13T11:56:34.123-05:002012-12-13T11:56:34.123-05:00Was he in fact encouraging to (1) "kill those...Was he in fact encouraging to (1) "kill those (fucking) Yankees who" did something wrong, or (2) all of the Yankees? The above English translation made me think of (1). It would be great if someone could check the original version and figure out which of the above nuances are conveyed in Korean.ジョゼフィーヌhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13342946133331483330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-60707577525155581352012-12-13T11:55:07.348-05:002012-12-13T11:55:07.348-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.ジョゼフィーヌhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13342946133331483330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-6156577108291249952012-12-12T17:28:41.121-05:002012-12-12T17:28:41.121-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-54064113737729047912012-12-12T17:27:31.969-05:002012-12-12T17:27:31.969-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-74409660491042856942012-12-12T17:25:40.872-05:002012-12-12T17:25:40.872-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com