MacArthur Debate Harms Korean Interests

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MacArthur Debate Harms Korean Interests

Because it is 'part of our history,' the South Korean President said Tuesday that he is against dismantling a statue of Douglas MacArthur, but he clearly indicated that Seoul thinks the U.S. is too dominant, saying that the two sides should 'plan to achieve a relationship of mutual respect.'

September 16, 2005

Original Article (English)

Hyde: 'Hands Off MacArthur'

Five U.S. lawmakers on the House International Affairs Committee, including its chairman, Henry Hyde, wrote on Thursday to President Roh Moo-hyun, saying that if violent attempts to topple the statue of General Douglas MacArthur continue, "we would respectfully request that rather than allow the general's statue to be defaced or torn down, the people of Incheon and all of South Korea turn the statue of General MacArthur over to the American people."

The lawmakers expressed concern about reports over the last few months of violent assaults on the statue, and said Congress and the American people could not countenance the hero who twice led Allied forces to liberate Korea being called a war criminal.

The feelings of Americans watching the controversy unfold are only natural. General MacArthur, in many ways, is a symbol of the United States.

Anti-U.S Protesters Clash With Police Near MacArthur Statue

Wouldn’t you be furious if your nation, only 50 years ago, sacrificed many of your young people in a war to protect the freedom of another country no one had even heard of, only to see the man who led the conflict labeled a war criminal, a murderer and an enemy of unification? Wouldn't you be furious knowing his statue could be toppled at any moment?

It is foolish for Koreans to indulge in anti-American sentiment, but hope that no anti-Korean sentiment will arise in the

United States

. Two years ago, U.S. channel CBS broadcast the scene of 8th Army Commander Lieutenant General Charles C. Campbell pouring his heart out watching the American flag torn down and burned during anti-U.S. protests in Korea. The public outcry that resulted made its way into the media and the Congress, and is now having a decisive influence on

U.S.

policy decisions. The MacArthur statue issue, too, has become a Congressional issue, and the day is not far off when it will influence White House policy.