Thursday, December 12, 2002
ITS ALWAYS ABOUT US: Interesting New York Times piece on the domestic South Korean implications of the U.S. seizure (and release?) of a boatload of North Korean Scud missiles destined for Yemen. The headlines and dramatic footage of the event have overshadowed anti-American sentiment and may help conservative presidential canadidate Yi Hoi-chang win the December 19th election. Of course South Korean conspiracy theorists argue that this is all part of an American plot to aid Lee:
Even if the Americans adjusted the timing of the seizure of the ship in order to have maximum impact on South Korean elections, this still doesn't explain why the North Koreans, who presumably would rather that Roh Mu-hyun wins, would send the ship out at this volatile time rather than waiting until the elections are over.
In South Korea, where conspiracy theories are popular, radio talk shows crackled this morning with questions about why the United States had tracked the ship for nearly a month before making the inspection, and why the James Bond-style occupation of the ship was so well filmed for television news.But the money graf is this:
"In the current political situation in South Korea, the intention would be to calm down anti-American feelings ignited by the schoolgirls' deaths by the U.S. army vehicle and to show U.S. power at the last moment of presidential election," an analyst wrote in Hankyoreh Shinmun, a liberal daily.
"Suggesting that this was a U.S. conspiracy to put Lee Hoi Chang in power and to respond to anti-Americanism would be very popular here," said Scott Snyder, the Korea representative for the Asia Foundation.
"It fits with a very longstanding Korean tradition of relating everything happening remotely in the world to what is happening here."I have observed and commented on many times. A good number of Koreans, both North and South, sincerely believe that the world pays close attention to Korean events and is constantly scheming to keep Korea from assuming its rightful place as a world power.
Even if the Americans adjusted the timing of the seizure of the ship in order to have maximum impact on South Korean elections, this still doesn't explain why the North Koreans, who presumably would rather that Roh Mu-hyun wins, would send the ship out at this volatile time rather than waiting until the elections are over.
