Support for the nearly 30,000 US forces stationed in South Korea remains high, too, with nine out of 10 of their citizens expressing support for the defensive alliance in a December survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. While many Americans enjoy these South Korean exports, South Koreans themselves hold one of the most consistently positive attitudes toward Americans, with 77 percent telling Pew Research that they viewed the US favorably - the fourth-highest ranking in the world after Israel, the Philippines and Poland. We wouldn’t have the eminently watchable Academy Award-winning film “Parasite,” which is filled with metaphors of the Korean War. ![]() What’s more, without South Korea, we wouldn’t have Samsung or K-pop. Without the war, Korea would have been unified under Kim Il-sung. In April, the country demonstrated its commitment to democracy by holding a national election shortly after the global pandemic struck and it also boasts one of the best track records of fighting COVID-19. South Korea now ranks among the top 25 percent of countries in the global press freedom index of Reporters Without Borders. Without the war, South Korea wouldn’t be the prosperous and democratic nation that has grown in recent decades to become the world’s 12th largest economy. “Had the US not intervened, I think Korea would have been unified under Kim Il-sung,” said Stephens of Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, who was North Korea’s leader at the time. In 1950, North Korea had more heavy industry than in the South - a legacy from the long-standing Japanese occupation that ended in 1945 - and was better equipped for war. Yet without the sacrifices made 70 years ago by American soldiers, who fought alongside allies under the United Nations flag, South Korea would not exist in its present state. It’s hard to see much glory in the death of William Holden’s pilot at the end of 1954’s “The Bridges at Toko-Ri,” for example, as he dies in a Korean ditch after being shot down, having bitterly complained that he had already done his duty in the Second World War. Hollywood, which had whipped up support for WWII, made only a handful of films about the Korean War, and many of those were ambivalent. Carl Mydans/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images But the South remembers our sacrifices, which helped shape their democracy. Some 36,000 US soldiers lost their lives defending South Korea from the North in a war America would rather forget. Truman relied on a decision by the United Nations to enforce South Korea’s sovereignty without seeking a war declaration from Congress, which set a questionable precedent that contributed to his ouster from the White House in 1952. Yet after three years of combat against North Korean and Chinese forces armed with Soviet equipment, the boundary between the two Koreas stands more or less where it began before the conflict.Īfter North Korea invaded the South on June 25, 1950, Americans’ support for the war effort was initially high - but wavered as it dragged on. We will play extra innings throughout the night, if necessary, to avoid a baseball game ending in a tie. The war is also “sometimes remembered as ‘die for a tie,’ because it ended rather unsatisfactorily in an armistice, not in a unified Korea,” said Kathleen Stephens, who served as the American ambassador to South Korea a decade ago and now chairs The Korea Society in New York.Īmericans hate a stalemate. The war that raged from 1950 to 1953, killing more than 36,000 Americans and millions of Koreans, continues to live up to its reputation as the forgotten war. ![]() ![]() Yet, so far, there has been barely a peep about the anniversary in the press or in Washington. Seventy years ago today, a company of US Marines pulled down the North Korean flags flying in front of the South Korean capitol building, helping our allies recapture Seoul for the first time. They just fade away.”īut on the 70th anniversary of the Korean War, it seems the veterans of that conflict have faded faster than most. Douglas MacArthur quoted an old Army ballad in his farewell address to Congress: “Old soldiers never die. Jonathan Majors was pitched his new film while naked in a bathhouse Real-life Top Gun shot down Soviet jets - and kept it a secret for 50 years US soldier facing misconduct charges defects to North Korea while shouting ‘ha ha ha!’ US soldier faced assault allegations, damaged police car before running to North Korea
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |