[Opinion] 8 Attitudes Toward America

“Stay close with the Chinese, engage the Japanese, and reach out to the U.S.” – this is the advice that Diplomatic Minister He Ruzhang of Qing Dynasty stationed in Japan gave through his subordinate Hwang Jun-heon’s book “Joseon Chaengnyak (Korean Strategy)” when Joseon was caught in the midst of a brewing storm in Northeast Asia in August 1880. The 6,000 characters encouraging the balance of power abroad and empowering itself to prepare for Russian southward aggression led King Gojong to shift his policies from close isolationism to openness. Joseon signed the Joseon-U.S. Friendly Relations and Trade Treaty on May 22, 1882 with the U.S. and started diplomatic relations.

But reaching out to the U.S. was not easy. The first Korean student to study in the U.S., Yoo Gil-jun wrote in his book “Neutrality” which came out in 1885, “The U.S. can be a good commercial partner for us, but it is not a country to be trusted to help us when in need.” As a matter of fact, the U.S. signed the Gasura-Taft Treaty in 1905, assenting to the Japanese takeover of the Korean Empire in exchange for Japan’s assent for the U.S. rule over the Philippines. This treaty is the origin of the anti-American sentiment that exists in Korea today.

The U.S. became a trusted ally after the liberation. It helped the Republic of Korea to rebuild after the war. It dispatched 1,789,000 soldiers – resulting in 36,940 deaths and 92,134 injuries during the June 25 Korean War. The U.S. guided Korea through the “miracle of the Han River” and democracy. Had it not for the U.S., Korea would be a much poorer country.

Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Julia Sweig of wrote in her book “Friendly Fire” that in Korea there are eight coexisting sentiments toward the U.S. – anti-America, praise America, worship America, hate America, join America, use America, fight against America, and judge America. She did a great job of identifying the mixed sentiments toward the U.S. Where would the current administration, the administration that first started out yelling, “autonomy” and ended up calling for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the U.S. by the middle of the term, be categorized? Did they switch from Anti-America to use America? Or does it still hate America and fight against America under a different tone?

Han Ki-heung, Editorial Writer, eligius@donga.com