Tuesday, January 28, 2003
ANTI-AMERICANISM VS. CRITICISM OF U.S. POLICIES. A scholar of Korean literature makes this interesting and useful point:
Not as someone living in the ROK, but as an attendee at a recent conference at the East West Center, University of Hawaii, where the demonstrations were a frequent topic, I would note that a number of scholars at the conference, Korean and American, urged that a distinction be drawn between "anti-American" (ban-mi) and critical of American policies (bi-mi). Because the demonstrations are reported as if they were anti-American, they cause anxiety among those thinking of travelling to Seoul, or huffy suggestions that, "if they're against us over there, maybe we should just leave," as Victor Cha observed of several then-recent op ed pieces. But in fact the demonstrations are an expression of engagement with such issues as concerns regarding North Korea, or dissatisfaction with the outcome of the trial of the miltary personnel whose vehicle killed the two Korean girls.. .; in other words, specific, understandable, and not threatening harm.
