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Widescreen
2/22/2006, 12:07 AM
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/21/D8FTU7HO2.html

Nearly half of South Korean youths who will be old enough to vote in the country's next elections say Seoul should side with North Korea if the United States attacks the communist nation, according to a poll released Wednesday.

At the same time, 40.7 percent of the 1,000 young people surveyed said Seoul should remain neutral in the event of hostilities between Washington and Pyongyang, according to the poll by The Korea Times and Hankook Ilbo dailies. Only 11.6 percent said the South should back its longtime U.S. ally.

The poll, conducted Feb. 16-19, surveyed youths between 17 and 23 years old who will be old enough to vote in next year's presidential election. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

The youths named China as South Korea's most important partner for maintaining friendly relations, at 39.5 percent, followed by the United States and North Korea at 18.4 and 18 percent, respectively.

A majority of those surveyed, 54.1 percent, said peaceful reunification was the preferred method for ending the division on the peninsula. But 35.5 percent said the status quo should be maintained if the North and South can peacefully coexist.
How many Americans lost their lives protecting the South from being overrun? We station, what, 30K soldiers there at all times? How much money do our GI's spend in their country? If the North did invade they'd all be impaled on hot pokers or put into slavery. And they have the nerve to say they'd side with the North over us? :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Octavian
2/22/2006, 12:12 AM
pull out...let the North over-run the ****ers....then nuke em both.

easy. :texan:

Widescreen
2/22/2006, 12:21 AM
For once, I think we totally agree on something. :D

Octavian
2/22/2006, 12:24 AM
:)

BoomerJack
2/22/2006, 01:25 AM
What makes you think the S. Korean government is gonna do what these kids say anyway?

Palermo10
2/22/2006, 08:28 AM
The fact that they even have a poll like that should be startling enough...

Okieflyer
2/22/2006, 08:35 AM
How many Americans lost their lives protecting the South from being overrun? We station, what, 30K soldiers there at all times? How much money do our GI's spend in their country? If the North did invade they'd all be impaled on hot pokers or put into slavery. And they have the nerve to say they'd side with the North over us? :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Don't worry too much. It's just young liberals. They will grow up soon enough. Right now they're in the everyone is good if your nice to them stage. You know the "will lay down our arms, then you can lay down yours".

Stoop Dawg
2/22/2006, 03:22 PM
Which is why we side with the French in every conflict.

In case I haven't said it lately, "Thank you, France. We owe you everything!"

BeetDigger
2/22/2006, 03:29 PM
I think that these guys are the ones who are sending the positive emails to the UW Senators who voted down the WWII hero memorial.

Hatfield
2/22/2006, 04:10 PM
I think that these guys are the ones who are sending the positive emails to the UW Senators who voted down the WWII hero memorial.

looks like somebody hasn't been keeping up with current events.

BeetDigger
2/22/2006, 04:19 PM
looks like somebody hasn't been keeping up with current events.


I've been keeping up with the situation. I know that there is a new proposal on board. But alas, they did shoot down the initial proposal and, if it were not for the public outcry, would not be considering the current proposal. Revisionist history.

PhxSooner
2/22/2006, 04:21 PM
Too bad these kids can't go to the DMZ and see just what North Korea would like to do to them. I was able to tour the DMZ back in 1990, and went down into just one of the "invasion" tunnels the North has built heading to Seoul. These are not nice people.

Shamrock
2/22/2006, 05:11 PM
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/21/D8FTU7HO2.html

How many Americans lost their lives protecting the South from being overrun? We station, what, 30K soldiers there at all times? How much money do our GI's spend in their country? If the North did invade they'd all be impaled on hot pokers or put into slavery. And they have the nerve to say they'd side with the North over us? :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
Keep them Yankees up in New York where they belong !

Ross33
2/22/2006, 05:13 PM
I had an opportunity to spend some time in the UK recently, and the "youth" there seem to have a similar outlook on the U.S. We have a serious PR problem right now, even in other "free" societies. Despite all the good we do in the world, we are not necessarily seen as "good," especially by the youth of the world. That scares me.

To some extent, I agree that some of this will dissipate as these people grow up, but after seeing it first hand, I can tell you that its bigger than liberal politics of youth. George Bush takes a lot of the current heat publicly, but the anger and distrust I saw wasn't directed at our president, but at our country as a whole.

NormanPride
2/22/2006, 05:24 PM
It's easier to pick at the ones on top, especially when you know they'll just sit back and take it.

Widescreen
2/22/2006, 05:38 PM
If we threatened to pull out, I wonder what their reaction would be. I'd love to see a poll that asked these idiots "Should the US remove all it's troops from South Korea?"

NormanPride
2/22/2006, 05:54 PM
Might as well ask them "Do you trust North Korea to not kill you?" and see how stupid they are.

Octavian
2/22/2006, 06:07 PM
If we threatened to pull out, I wonder what their reaction would be. I'd love to see a poll that asked these idiots "Should the US remove all it's troops from South Korea?"

We tried to pull out quicker and in greater numbers over a year ago. The South's govt got nervous and asked us not to.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3719146.stm

Ross33
2/22/2006, 06:08 PM
If we threatened to pull out, I wonder what their reaction would be. I'd love to see a poll that asked these idiots "Should the US remove all it's troops from South Korea?"

I think you might be surprised. I think you'd find alot of support for the idea of a withdrawal. I'm not saying it's the right decision, or that the leaders of the country would agree, but there are alot of people in SK that would support withdrawal. Like I said earlier, we have a serious PR problem.



This article is a bit old, from 2003, but it's representative of my point. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A30309-2003Jan8?language=printer

Here are a few quotes:


In downtown Seoul, a sign went up in a restaurant declaring that Americans were not welcome. School bags began sporting "Anti-American" buttons. On major shopping streets, activists using bullhorns began proclaiming "Yankees go home."


In a recent opinion poll conducted by Korea Gallup for the Chosun Ilbo, one of South Korea's three major newspapers, more than 53 percent of South Koreans surveyed said they disliked the United States, up from 15 percent in 1994. Over the same period, the percentage of those who said they liked the United States fell from nearly 64 percent to 37 percent.

NOTE: That's 53% of South Koreans, not just the youth of that country.


"If the United States left, I wouldn't mind," says Kim Young Ran, 29. "If North Korea wants nuclear weapons, I think they should have them. The U.S. and so many other countries have them. There's no way North Korea will attack us with their nuclear weapons. I don't think so. We're the same country. You don't bomb and kill your family. We share the same blood."

King Crimson
2/22/2006, 06:13 PM
more foreign policy expert opinions on the SO.

Ross33
2/22/2006, 06:25 PM
Here's a poll that's actually on topic:

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1120712&C=asiapac


A majority of South Koreans want a gradual or quick withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Korean peninsula, citing a reduced threat from North Korea, a newspaper survey showed Sept. 22.
The poll, conducted by the JoongAng Daily, found 54 percent supported the withdrawal of U.S. troops, compared to 39 percent in 2003 and 48 percent last year.
It showed 47 percent favored a gradual pullout while 16 percent supported the permanent presence of U.S. soldiers, who have been stationed here under a mutual defense pact dating back to the 1950-53 Korean War.
As a reason for the change in sentiment towards U.S. troops, the survey said fewer people here see their Stalinist neighbor as a military threat, although North and South Korea remain technically at war.
In 2003, 52 percent expressed concern about a conflict provoked by North Korea, but this year the proportion fell to 42 percent.
Some 32,500 U.S. troops are based in the country alongside 700,000 South Korean troops, acting as a deterrent to North Korea’s 1.1 million-strong Army.
But many younger South Koreans with no experience of the war have begun to question the need for U.S. troops in their country.
North Korea’s official media regularly calls for U.S. troops to be expelled from the South.


And I don't claim to be an expert at anything. I'm just saying we're not as welcome as we think - rightly or wrongly.

Stoop Dawg
2/22/2006, 06:31 PM
You don't bomb and kill your family. We share the same blood

No, you starve them to death. Do they really not know what's going on in NK? Or do *we* really not know what's going on in NK?

Stoop Dawg
2/22/2006, 06:38 PM
I had an opportunity to spend some time in the UK recently, and the "youth" there seem to have a similar outlook on the U.S. We have a serious PR problem right now, even in other "free" societies. Despite all the good we do in the world, we are not necessarily seen as "good," especially by the youth of the world. That scares me.

To some extent, I agree that some of this will dissipate as these people grow up, but after seeing it first hand, I can tell you that its bigger than liberal politics of youth. George Bush takes a lot of the current heat publicly, but the anger and distrust I saw wasn't directed at our president, but at our country as a whole.

You experience hits me two ways:

1. Their grandparents literally begged our grandparents to bail them out of TWO wars. Two wars that they probably would have lost without us - or at least taken much, much heavier casualties.

2. The PR problem is not easy to solve. If we play "world police" people resent it. If we do nothing they criticize the "wealthies nation" for not helping people (see Rawanda - who got all the criticism there? the US).

I guess I'd like to see a President have the balls to stay out of a conflict (any conflict) and say "We're letting Europe and China handle this one. Wake us up if you need help - again."

SoonerProphet
2/22/2006, 06:42 PM
2. The PR problem is not easy to solve. If we play "world police" people resent it. If we do nothing they criticize the "wealthies nation" for not helping people (see Rawanda - who got all the criticism there? the US).

I think the Belgians and the UN took most of the heat over Rwanda, and rightfully so.

The 8th Army would be better served killing jihadists.

Octavian
2/22/2006, 06:50 PM
2. The PR problem is not easy to solve. If we play "world police" people resent it. If we do nothing they criticize the "wealthies nation" for not helping people

Yep..."the curse of a great power"

This has been an especially big problem for us in Latin America.

Palermo10
2/23/2006, 08:16 AM
I had an opportunity to spend some time in the UK recently, and the "youth" there seem to have a similar outlook on the U.S. We have a serious PR problem right now, even in other "free" societies. Despite all the good we do in the world, we are not necessarily seen as "good," especially by the youth of the world. That scares me.

To some extent, I agree that some of this will dissipate as these people grow up, but after seeing it first hand, I can tell you that its bigger than liberal politics of youth. George Bush takes a lot of the current heat publicly, but the anger and distrust I saw wasn't directed at our president, but at our country as a whole.


I was in Scotland two weeks ago and I spoke with an older man who does a lot of work in Houston. He said the most frightening thing about the United States was the fundamentalist Christians and their attitudes towards the rest of the world. This was I guess surprising as I am used to hearing stick about the government, but the first time I had heard somebody express fear of the population. Of course I explained that not all of us were fundamentalists, that it could be a temporary spike, and that history will have to play itself out.
But seriously - Houston? :mack:

Stoop Dawg
2/23/2006, 09:44 AM
I was in Scotland two weeks ago and I spoke with an older man who does a lot of work in Houston. He said the most frightening thing about the United States was the fundamentalist Christians and their attitudes towards the rest of the world.

I'm certainly no fundamentalist Christian, but I'm curious what specific attitudes toward the rest of the world frightened him?

Harry Beanbag
2/23/2006, 09:48 AM
I'm certainly no fundamentalist Christian, but I'm curious what specific attitudes toward the rest of the world frightened him?


Haven't you heard about all the American fundamentalist Christians going to foreign countries and blowing up mosques, subways, buildings, etc.? Where have you been?

Palermo10
2/23/2006, 04:52 PM
I'm certainly no fundamentalist Christian, but I'm curious what specific attitudes toward the rest of the world frightened him?

He was just mentioning the willingness to go to war on behalf of religion, or so it seemed, and the results that come with it.

Stoop Dawg
2/23/2006, 07:16 PM
He was just mentioning the willingness to go to war on behalf of religion, or so it seemed, and the results that come with it.

Did he mention any specific instances where the US has entered a war on behalf of religion? We've entered a few wars for rather dubious reasons, but I don't recall any based on religion.

Methinks your Scotish friend isn't all that in tune with American politics. It's greenbacks driving the ship, not religion!