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I think we should seriously ask ourselves why we need to be the major player in Korea, or in this situation there.But I think we need to start questioning America's need to be everywhere in the world as the policeman and international disciplinarian, which is not to say that we do not have international interests.
Bingo. Most importanly to me, Keep the Pacific fleet out of it! Bring those boys back home safe, and let China deal with their stupid ally.
I'm here now, and things look pretty much as normal. The public back home gets the hype which the politicians and "mouth-pieces" feast on but this does not really reflect reality too much. Honestly what most people here are doing is getting ready for the inevitable implosion of DPRK aka "North Korea". They simply have a brutal repressive and completely unsustainable "system" up there and everyone, quite possibly including Senior North Korean "leadership" but especially the PRC Chinese know it. Everyone wants to keep the situation as peaceful as possible and let the North fall apart and dissolve in relative quiet. Saving face for many people is a big consideration but progress can't be held back. The "north" will eventually, sooner than later....go away... so that the healing process can start with as little disruption to the world economy as possible, particularly now, in it's "weakened-by-welfare" condition. Getting them (DPRK) back up to a reasonable world standard will be tough but will have to start someplace. Could it get bad....nasty....Sure. But that seems less likely. If the balloon does go up....it could be a total disaster....and that would be something that not one person really wants....well except perhaps the "great leader". The entire world economy would really suffer...Apparently it's all the rage in D.C. these days to c.r.a.p. on our allies...but this attitude is pointless, and self-defeating not to mention rude and flat-out crazy. Korea is one of our best allies in the Far East and a very strong trading partner. We'd be stupid not to support them.....but again...stupidity is in fashion right now and the present administration likes to wear stupid for all to see....
Busan (Pusan), Pohang, Jinhae, Chinhae, Gwangyang and Soochong....now all operate as normal, and the weather is nice here this time of year....The fish-markets are full, the stores and restaurants full....the hotels are packed....new construction everywhere...the streets are busy and the stadiums are full.....the games are on day and night.
Last edited by Happy Cells; 06-08-2010 at 06:49 PM..
The impression that I got when I was in Korea is that reunification is very, very high on the wish list of people in South Korea. So much so that they would be willing to sacrifice a great deal of their economic standard of living, in order to share their wealth with the Koreans from the north and help them become a partner in the Greater Korea. The integrity of Korea is more important to them than the personal welfare of individual Koreans. They are probably the most nationalistically pure and isolationist people in the world. Every Korean takes it as indisputable article of faith that Korea is one country and there will be reunification, no matter what the cost.
It would be a serious miscalculation if the Americans ever assumed that the Korean people would ever accept Americans or any foreigners as equal to Koreans, and they would never subjugate themselves to our will,, or even cooperate with us on a premise of equality. Of course, the same caveat applies as well to the Chinese, and even more so to the dreaded and hated Japanese.
....It would be a serious miscalculation if the Americans ever assumed that the Korean people would ever accept Americans or any foreigners as equal to Koreans, and they would never subjugate themselves to our will,, or even cooperate with us on a premise of equality. Of course, the same caveat applies as well to the Chinese, and even more so to the dreaded and hated Japanese.
Which is to say that they are all very much like we Americans.
Which is to say that they are all very much like we Americans.
Yes, but for the opposite reason. The Koreans have a very high degree of purity in their ancestry--nearly all Koreans are Koreans as far back as they can count, with no non-Korean influence. And also, because of their geographic location, they have often been the target of foreign invasion, often successful, which has given them a somewhat justified sense of xenophobia.
Linguistics may be the most reliable indicator of cultural origin, and Korean is possibly the most widely spoken language isolate in the world. That is, a language that has no known association with any other language arising from a common ancestor. Whether Korean is an Altaic language distantly related to Japanese is being studied, but there is no convincing evidence.
It would appear the Maine was destroyed by its own weapons, likely because they were defective.
The situation is very different. In 1898 we had not had a signficant conflict in 33 years and few Americans had any sense of what a war was like. The papers convinced everyone it would be brief and easy. Since then we have had WW I and II, Korea, Vietnam, and recently Iraq. Few Americans want another war. So while we may end up with one there, but probably won't, it will be entirely different than the Maine incident.
Quote:
Originally Posted by odanny
I read it was a boiler explosion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by noetsi
The History Channel suggested that explosives, I believe torpedos, deteriated and exploaded.
the maine essentially sunk itself due to a fire in the boiler room, that overheated and touched off the powder in the magazine next door. it was an unfortunate accident, but it was also the opportunity for the US to become a world power.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cocytus
As crazy as Kim Jong Il may be,even he has to realize that by going to war w/ the US and South Korea,he would precipitate the end of the Communist government in North Korea.
Even if he wanted to start a war ,I doubt that his military leadership would go into it more than halfheartedly would probably crumble and/or surrender after a relatively short period of time. Plus the Chinese have almost NO incentive to allow a war to take place and may use their contacts inside the government to quietly remove Kim from power.
IMHO,unless the North Koreans start lobbing nukes,this just more saber-rattling from a dying regime.
Quote:
Originally Posted by catman
I agree with ovcatto that Kim Jong-il is a despicable sort. I don't think China will back him the way that China backed N. Korea in the 1950s. The USA and China have too many economic links now.
i think both of these are true. if kim gets too feisty, china will slap him down, unless he moves too quickly for the chinese to react. if that happens, and the north invades the south, the US is obligated by treaty to defend the south. and since the conditions are far different from 1950, it is doubtful that china will enter any war against north korea IF the north is the aggressor, and we make no moves to threaten china like macarthur did in 1950. all we need do is guarantee that we will not invade china in any way shape or form, and i believe that china stays out of any conflict. china has too much to lose these days if they end up in a war with us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Happy Cells
I'm here now, and things look pretty much as normal. The public back home gets the hype which the politicians and "mouth-pieces" feast on but this does not really reflect reality too much. Honestly what most people here are doing is getting ready for the inevitable implosion of DPRK aka "North Korea". They simply have a brutal repressive and completely unsustainable "system" up there and everyone, quite possibly including Senior North Korean "leadership" but especially the PRC Chinese know it. Everyone wants to keep the situation as peaceful as possible and let the North fall apart and dissolve in relative quiet. Saving face for many people is a big consideration but progress can't be held back. The "north" will eventually, sooner than later....go away... so that the healing process can start with as little disruption to the world economy as possible, particularly now, in it's "weakened-by-welfare" condition. Getting them (DPRK) back up to a reasonable world standard will be tough but will have to start someplace. Could it get bad....nasty....Sure. But that seems less likely. If the balloon does go up....it could be a total disaster....and that would be something that not one person really wants....well except perhaps the "great leader". The entire world economy would really suffer...Apparently it's all the rage in D.C. these days to c.r.a.p. on our allies...but this attitude is pointless, and self-defeating not to mention rude and flat-out crazy. Korea is one of our best allies in the Far East and a very strong trading partner. We'd be stupid not to support them.....but again...stupidity is in fashion right now and the present administration likes to wear stupid for all to see.....
i sincerely hope that things go the way that you suggest they will, and that korea can become a unified country with seoul as its capital, under the current sk government. that would be the best thing for the region as it would be a true stabilizing influence there in so many ways.
Quote:
Busan (Pusan), Pohang, Jinhae, Chinhae, Gwangyang and Soochong....now all operate as normal, and the weather is nice here this time of year....The fish-markets are full, the stores and restaurants full....the hotels are packed....new construction everywhere...the streets are busy and the stadiums are full.....the games are on day and night.
good to hear that south korea is doing well. i think it would be a good place to visit one day.
And Super Junior released the 4th Album! Bonamana (calm down fangirl) LOL Thanks for all of your comments. Reading them was informative and interesting...and well, it's a few weeks later and I haven't heard much else on the subject. That is good.
The impression that I got when I was in Korea is that reunification is very, very high on the wish list of people in South Korea. So much so that they would be willing to sacrifice a great deal of their economic standard of living, in order to share their wealth with the Koreans from the north and help them become a partner in the Greater Korea. The integrity of Korea is more important to them than the personal welfare of individual Koreans. They are probably the most nationalistically pure and isolationist people in the world. Every Korean takes it as indisputable article of faith that Korea is one country and there will be reunification, no matter what the cost.
It would be a serious miscalculation if the Americans ever assumed that the Korean people would ever accept Americans or any foreigners as equal to Koreans, and they would never subjugate themselves to our will,, or even cooperate with us on a premise of equality. Of course, the same caveat applies as well to the Chinese, and even more so to the dreaded and hated Japanese.
Jtur88, I disagree very strongly with Koreans wanting unification.
On an emotional level, yes they do wish for the two states to be unified one day, but this sentiment is palpably greater amongst the older generation, more specifically the senior citizens who A) have siblings in the North, whom they were split from during the Korean War; B) are too old-fashioned not to want unification; and/or C) are old enough to have been alive in pre-Cold War Korea, when there was only one Korean nation.
The younger folks were all born and grew up in an era when Korea was split. They have much less of a concern and very little emotional connection with the North. They look down on North Korean defectors as barbaric, retrograde, ignorant, and dirt-poor individuals. They don't want to deal with the cost of unification. The government itself would not simply allow unrestricted access across the DMZ even if North Korea's government were peacefully toppled and there was no violent revolution there (which is highly unlikely anyway). They don't want their society flooded with over 20 million people who are nowhere near ready to function in the hypercapitalistic society of South Korea.
Yes, but for the opposite reason. The Koreans have a very high degree of purity in their ancestry--nearly all Koreans are Koreans as far back as they can count, with no non-Korean influence. And also, because of their geographic location, they have often been the target of foreign invasion, often successful, which has given them a somewhat justified sense of xenophobia.
Linguistics may be the most reliable indicator of cultural origin, and Korean is possibly the most widely spoken language isolate in the world. That is, a language that has no known association with any other language arising from a common ancestor. Whether Korean is an Altaic language distantly related to Japanese is being studied, but there is no convincing evidence.
But an interesting factor about the Korean language as it is spoken, written, and taught in South Korea is that the separation of the peninsula has led to considerable differences between how it is spoken in the North. Whether it's spelling of certain words (or even letters), the intonation, the vocabulary, and the local accents, the Korean language of North Korean is distinct. Any South Korean can easily identify a North Korean defector simply by hearing him speak.
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