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-   -   US ambassador to s korea attacked (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-non-villages-discussion-93/us-ambassador-s-korea-attacked-146011/)

kittygilchrist 03-04-2015 09:56 PM

US ambassador to s korea attacked
 
Slashed with a razor.
villagers please weigh in...I think we have entered a new era....

mgjim 03-04-2015 11:11 PM

I've read the news accounts about this attack and it sounds like the attacker has some serious mental or emotional problems. He's done similar things before and seems to have a new "issue" with each protest.

I've spent many years in Korea in the military, beginning in the early 70s and ending in the early 90s. The Korean people have always protested against their own government and against the United States government over a variety of issues, including their own dictatorships following the war and continuing through the Kwanju riots in the late 70s into the early 80s. Students have also staged regular protests around U.S. military bases, often ending with tear gassings by the Korean police. I've been stuck in the middle of a couple of these protests and I am not a fan of tear gas. Despite all of this, I found the Korean people to be extremely gracious and respectful of Americans and the protests are really just a demonstration of their desire to reunify the peninsula. I never felt threatened or disrespected, not even once. In fact, I felt absolutely safer walking alone at night in Seoul (one of the world's largest cities) than I've ever felt walking alone at night in any large American city.

I don't think this is at all related to events in other parts of the world where Americans are regularly targeted. For example, ask any of your military friends about the targeting of American soldiers by terrorist groups in Europe over the past 40-50 years. From Berlin to Athens, American soldiers have been regularly targeted. Why, in Italy during the 80's, hardly a week would go by without an American soldier's vehicle being blown up. It never made the news but we were regularly targeted and eventually had to travel with tourist passports because a military ID card could result in capture or death (TWA Flight 847). A friend of mine was seriously injured by a roadside bomb while he was riding in an unmarked military bus in Athens in the mid-80s.

We have many places in the world to worry about and North Korea is definitely one of them. But I don't think South Korea is a threat just yet.

kittygilchrist 03-07-2015 03:57 AM

Thank you. That helps...

Abby10 03-07-2015 08:08 AM

Yes, thank you, mgjim, for your perspective and for sharing your experiences. It's great to have people on this forum from so many different backgrounds, experiences, and persuasions. It helps all of us to make better sense of, or at least try to understand, what is going on in the world today.


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