South Korean President To Address Nation

reply to post by ianmoone1


Well frankly, I wasn't trying that hard. Especially since the poster could have easily looked this all up on his own, right? The point of my post was to make it interesting enough to push the poster into doing his own history paper.

reply to post by Human_Alien


Its a majority of the people who are following leaders that reflect their ethnic prejudices.

I kid you not, if a Yank sees a Korean man and Vietnamese woman walking down the street as husband and wife, he sees an "Asian couple". But in Korea, that's a "mixed marriage", frowned upon. Imagine that.

The North and South are different ethnic groups.

They tend to see the other side as a hostile, 'alien' force.

That is what we are fighting here: ancient prejudice.

Originally posted by Human_Alien

Originally posted by Chakotay

Originally posted by Tholidor
reply to post by Human_Alien

 

I have no idea what differences these two spheres of influence might have had that led them to armed conflict.

It's an old, old fight. Details on Wikipedia.

These folks have been divided and at battle for thousands of years.

One last question (thanks) is it really the 'folks' or is it the 'governments'????? That's what I'm not quite understanding.

I think it's a little of both,

NK is extremely indoctrinated. The people there are basically brainwashed, believing that their leader somehow has a divine right to rule. They are treated like a Royal family, but in the most traditional sense of the term. They basically rule.
So even though the people live in abject poverty with mass starvation and immense infrastructure problems, they are born into a nation where defense of their dear leader and country is paramount.

I believe they have only three TV stations, all of which show propaganda from morning to night.

So while it makes no sense, many North Koreans are raised with a hatred of the outside world, especially SK.

I don't think South Koreans have a loathing of the NK people. I think they pity the more than anything. I think they understand what has happened more than the North Koreans do.
They surely don't want to see NK people harmed, but rather the military and government to be eradicated.

That's my assessment of it anyway,

Originally posted by Chakotay
reply to post by Human_Alien

 

Its a majority of the people who are following leaders that reflect their ethnic prejudices.

I kid you not, if a Yank sees a Korean man and Vietnamese woman walking down the street as husband and wife, he sees an "Asian couple". But in Korea, that's a "mixed marriage", frowned upon. Imagine that.

The North and South are different ethnic groups.

They tend to see the other side as a hostile, 'alien' force.

That is what we are fighting here: ancient prejudice.

But I thought this 'divide' if you will, has been recent, since WWII.....no? And if so, you mean that 2-generations have been THAT brainwashed?
Hell, we see the error of the ways our own PARENTS did let alone their parents and have corrected the wrong (like bigotry etc) ....so what gives?

I know Asian are more loyal (and less yielding) to their elders but still...........

Man, we are so divided by all these different ideologies and cultures it's no wonder aliens don't even want us! Hell, we can't even speak ONE basic planetary language let alone, get along *sigh*

Good abstract though. Thanks!

reply to post by detachedindividual


It seems over all that Asian are timid and a bit fearful.

What a shame. And what an easy target too.

If USA gets involved, I will be even MORE shameful than I currently am and will probably have a desire to burn all flags I see waving (like I do right now across my street).

Ugh. It's so disgusting and makes NO sense. But hell......let's get our troops primed and ready for more deaths.

reply to post by detachedindividual


What do you base your assessment on?

North Korea (along with Iran) is of the handful of nations in the world that engages in nationalism, NOT globalism via the WTO. This angers the US, because the US uses free trade to economically dominate other, lesser countries. If the US does not succeed in this way, then they wage war to acquire their interests and to spread American influence.

No reporting of North Korea by the West is the truth; it is all propaganda because North Korean nationalism is an afront to Americanism. The NK people aren't brainwashed and their leader is not weak. In fact, the NK people follow their leadership because they are the reason why Pyongyang isn't covered with McDonalds, or NK tv is full of "news" about celebrity scandals, or their streets loaded with gas-guzzling American trucks.

The US is an empire; they quest for global domination. Americans themselves can't seem to put this together even after fabricated wars, let alone even begin to understand America's aggressive economic and political policies. Lenin says a country becomes imperialist after industrial capital evolves into finance capital; fascism is when corporate interests control the government; and empires actively control a mother country along with other puppet countries (like Iraq and Afghanistan now).

The US is the modern Roman Empire. If a country is so threatening to the US, then I think we should study exactly why that is instead of eating propaganda... That is if humans actually care about Earth, and not American corporate global domination ( which isn't going to benefit anyone except the elite, which isn't us).

reply to post by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi


I base my opinions, as always, on the statements made by people who have fled that country to seek a better life elsewhere, investigative journalists who have been there, economic and social data presented previously in other threads discussing NK, and plenty more.

There is no simple way to describe a nation based on a book listing political ideals beneath their titles.

Capitalism, Socialism, Communism... there are a billion shades between each.
Most of us are supposedly living in Capitalist societies, but the merger of State and Corporate interests is Fascism. So where are we now?

I think there are a minority who like to think of NK as a Utopian dream, a potential framework for a truly free nation. They have this idea that people get to live in their farming communities and live happy and healthy lives without the massive involvement of government we face.
While I would agree that the ideal is nice one, the reality is nothing near to Utopian.

By all means we should defend the principal of a nation allowing its people to live free on the land without the trappings of a society and government like ours. But that dream and possibility turned sour for NK a very long time ago.

The Utopia that would have been possible has been destroyed by the actions of a despot leader, arming himself to the teeth while his people suffer.

Does anyone have any info on when he is likely to make his speech?

reply to post by SLAYER69


Nice to see you too - Ive been lot here in ATS, but just as observer, reading threads daily... But hurry in my works, you know... Writing takes more time than reading. But looks like world is heating up again, and what is best place to be involved at time of worst crises? ATS!!! With you my friend!

reply to post by Human_Alien


It goes back a long long ways. It really started before 1910. Korea was a fuedal country. There was the upper crust and everybody else was nearly a slave. Their underclass started wanting freedom. Before they could really get the whole revolution thing rolling Japan came along and took over.

It was part of Japan's attempt at empire building. (Empires were all the rage among countries trying to prove they are first world.) Pretty much they came in and mucked around. The intelligentsia and the hardcore nationalist fled the country. They set up a government in exile. China backed these guys in attempts to fight back against the Japanese occupation. The fighters were attempting to establish a Communist government. They fought mainly in the northern part of the country. Then Russia and America decided during WWII that Rusia should invade Northern Korea and push out the Japanese. For some reason they agreed to stop at the 38th paralell.

The 38th parallel was chosen because America wanted to have two ports and the capital city in their sphere of influence. Well American forces finally arrived to take over the southern half of Korea from the Japanese. When they did they immediately restored Japanese occupational administrators and police sympathizers. All the while they ignored the interim Korean government that had been set up.

What ended up happening is that America and Russia agreed to a five year trusteeship of each half of the country. They agreed that the regime under each country's control would be set up similar to the sponsor's government. North Korea was kept communist and South Korea recieved a regime chosen by America. The southern government violently opressed thousands of South Koreans that were communist or socialist in idealogy. Then with a little help from America the elections were violently rigged.

The North Koreans wanted a communist reunification of Korea. With help from Russia, China, and disenfranchised South Koreans they thought they could do it. So they decided to invade. They crossed the 38th parallel and brought the fight to the South Koreans. They made a lot of ground quickly.

Then America found out what was happening and decided to come back. We jumped in and basically helped the South Korean army fight back to the 38th. It was eventually called a draw and we headed home. Every since then there has ben a tension between both sides. The North Koreans see it as their destiny to reunify Korea under communist rule. To them South Korea is still an extension of the Japanese and American empires. They believe that they are fighting to maintain the great legacy of Korea. To them South Korea's existence is an effort by outside forces to control the Korean people and deny them a unified communist utopia.

In reality their version of utopia and Korean magnificence would look much like fuedal Korea. There would be a very small aristocracy that runs the government. The rest would be peasant slaves working to ensure the wealth of their masters while struggling for subsistence.

South Korea doesn't really want a war. They just want to be able to keep cashing those capitalist checks and surfing the internet. They have grown content with capitalism and democracy (to some extent.) They just want to be left alone to persue their future as they choose.

The shortest and most simple answer is that North Korea is run by a maniac that thinks he is god. He believes that as god it is his job to reunite Korea and return it to the 19th century.

Time to Discuss a Regime Change in North Korea

Amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula a senior US Senator says that it's time for a "regime change in North Korea."

Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain said that countries other than the United States must push the current North Korean leadership to collapse.

McCain also emphasized on how China, the only country with any influence on North Korea has failed to live up to its reponsibility as a "world power."

Adding that it cannot be possibly in Beijing's long-term interest to see a renewed conflict on the Korean Peninsula the Arizona Senator said the recent North Korea's attack could be indicating that it's time for Washington to make adjustments to its policies regarding China.

www.arirang.co.kr...

Oh - this bomb, bomb, bomb Mc Cain! - Now its really any moment to talk about war, but peace!

reply to post by JanusFIN


Any idea what time the speech is set to happen?

reply to post by Nomad451


posted on 28-11-2010 @ 22:09

It was 22.00 - so about 3,5 hours from now - I think it should come any moment now, but time is still not revealed anywhere... Maybe to secure presidents safety? - Its odd, that time info is still without further notice...

reply to post by MikeNice81


Good lord.
Thanks but.............is this really the world I am living in?????

Countries muscle their way into other countries----- to oust other countries---- all the while their country is falling apart?

No wonder I couldn't pay attention in high school back in the late 70's. It's still way beyond comprehension.
I hear it but my mind can't wrap around it.

When did countries become leaders for other countries? (rhetorical globalist question. no answer needed)

Peace to this planet (I hope).

reply to post by JanusFIN


Ok thanks.

I'll keep my eyes and ears open, should be a very interesting speech. Hopefully one that will lay all the Korean hype to rest

reply to post by detachedindividual


I'm not saying North Korea is a utopian society; I'm discussing its nationalism vs the globalism that has been imposed on North Korea for some time now. If North Korea is forced to open up to global interests inside of it, then North Korea will not be North Korea anymore. North Koreans do not want this, so they turned North Korea into a fortress state.

If this is not what the NKs want, then their large conscript army would easily overtake the smaller head government (and elite guard). They are communist after all, so they know successful revolution better than anyone else.

And look how one sided the West is on North Korea. When was the last time the MSM or western governments ever discussed positive achievements of such an isolated society? They've developed lots of interesting stuff but the West just laughs at them because we think we are superior with the US, Japan and China controlling most of the West's innovation (not like our products are so innovative as they are profitable).

In my opinion, the world would progress much more positively if nations kept to themselves except when united to develop species-progressive technology or understanding (like outer space and inner space). Free-trade is not actually freetrade, it is economic domination by the larger countries in the pact. North Korea is doing whatever it can to avoid globalism and they are punished for it (like the international community trying to starve NK and say it is NK's fault and they should disarm so they can receive aid in the form of Monsanto's GM seeds just like in Afghanistan and Haiti).

Wow, the Korean tension seems to have changed it tone
Nothing in the news anymore

- Pres. Lee made a brief address, offering no clear indiciation of South Korea's possible response to the DPRK attack.

- less than 10 seconds ago via TweetDeck # Ended by saying that DPRK will pay the price for further provocations.

- less than a minute ago via TweetDeck # The speech has ended. (That's it?)

- 1 minute ago via TweetDeck # Pres. Lee: #ROK nation and people need to stand united for national security.

- 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck # Lee: Difficult to expect #DPRK will abandon nuclear weapons, stop brinkmanship.

- 3 minutes ago via TweetDeck # Pres. Lee says he feels responsible for not being able to protect S. Korean civilians from the DPRK's artillery attack.

- 4 minutes ago via TweetDeck # Pres. Lee calls last Tuesday's atack inhumane.

- 5 minutes ago via TweetDeck # #ROK President Lee addressing the nation live on TV. #Koreas

SOURCE

much ado about nothing really

Any comments?


www.airport.co.kr...

reply to post by BobAthome


nothing unusual ..two filghts cancelled
what comments do you expect ?