Korea's Anti-U.S. Sentiments

The ongoing South Korean hostage crisis had triggered off yet another round of anti-American sentiments.

Many Koreans are now questioning the benefits of being an U.S. ally, and wondering if the country should continue to dispatch troops to Iraq to support America's war efforts.

Incidentally, Brad Glosserman's analysis on anti-Americanism in Korea is still as relevant today as when it was first written in 2003.

Glosserman noted that much of the resentment on the part of Koreans stemmed from South Korea's status as the junior partner in the U.S.-Korea security alliance.

Glosserman also wrote that anti-Americanism is political, economic, cultural, historical and even psychological. It is also the product of "deep-rooted factors and trends", and triggered off by specific events. These include the death of two schoolgirls accidentally run over by a U.S. army vehicle in 2002, and the snubbing of former President Kim Dae Jung during his summit with U.S. President George W. Bush in 2001.

Glosserman wrote: "The most depressing analysis - offered by a Korean - suggested that an anti-American attitude was an "inseparable part of the Korean national psyche."

Another observer noted that anti-Americanism was the outgrowth of the maturation of Korean democracy.

After all, "it is easy to forget that anti-Americanism was illegal in Korea until only a few years ago, under the National Security Law." Hence, anti-Americanism should be seen as "a perfectly natural response."