Tongil Korea

@An Arizona Cowboy
I wanted to reply to An Arizona Cowboy.

Someone read your comment and wanted to share your views on Democracy and Peace.
The question “Divide and Conquer” is the current strategy of US armed forces across the world. Therefore all we have to do is to unite for the sake of humankind in defense of ordinary people, against war and exploitation.

The questio is: how can we unite against war and exploitation, if there is no democracy and freedom of organization for the people?

Sam AYACHE

I read this article on General Secretary Kim Jung-il’s social theory and, since it’s been over three months without any evident responses or comments, I decided to comment by pointing out that over 500 years ago “Nick” Machiavelli noted that politics was mostly about “POPULAR SUPPORT,” which is – in another way – saying essentially what Kim Jung-il is pointing out that it is the masses, who are shaping history. Please note, as an American I do not agree with North Korea’s leadership on many issues, however I do think it is important for human beings to recognize where they have common issues or thoughts. However, I also believe that it is via the Freedom of Speech and the Free Press that people can best achieve a better tomorrow for all people everywhere… and, as far as I know, the Freedom of Speech is even less respected in North Korea than it is in the U.S.A., however… from my experiences in South Korea from 1981 to 1984, I would not… claim to “trust” the so-called “Free Press” in the U.S. because, quite frankly, before I went to south Korea in 1981, I was under the misinformation that South Korea was… a “democracy” and part of “the Free World.” Hardy-har-har! Very freakin’ funny!

By the way, “truly great leaders” do not need to be called, “Great Leader,” in my viewpoint. Nor do they need to have their pictures on the front page of every newspaper every day with some glowing story of what they are doing to improve the lives of the common people this and every day… as was the case under the U.S.-supported military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan in the early 1980s. Indeed, one day in the summer of 1981, when I asked the U.S. Army Chief of Military Police in South Korea, “Excuse me, Sir, but, is South Korea a democracy, Sir?,” he pointed to the two English-edition Korean newspapers on his desk and placed his thumb rather rudely on Chun Doo-hwan’s face… tapping it, “Tap-tap-tap!,” saying something like, “All you got to do is look at the front page of the newspaper everyday for a week and you’ll see a picture of this sonofab!tch: Chun Doo-hwan! And, then, you’ll know that they ain’t got any Freedom of the Press or any Freedom of Speech, therefore – of course – it is NOT any sort of a DEMOCRACY!!!”

I was not expecting such a blatant answer from a major in the U.S. Army, however, having gotten to know him in the course of a few months as a “messenger-boy” on U.S. 8th Army Headquarters, Yongsan, I’d talked with him dozens of times and he knew I was an Army ROTC cadet and we both we sons of World War II veterans and grandsons of World War I veterans, ergo… yes, we both took WAR damned seriously… and neither of us “wanted” war with anyone, however we were both sort of “dedicated” to winning wars for the U.S.A., which – by the way – had told us, our fathers, and our grandfathers “the bright and shining lie” that We Americans fought for something called, “democracy.”

Yikes. The old Chief of Military Police, who was from Texas and kept a Stetson (a good brand of cowboy hat) behind his desk, might be highly annoyed at me if he were to find out I’d written this on a website that claims to be “north Korean” or evidently sympathizes with north Korea.

In any case, do I “sympathize” with the north Koreans or any communists? The communists obliterated my grandfather’s hometown in Finland six or seven times between 1939 and 1945, therefore I can sort of “understand” how the north Koreans feel about the U.S. obliterating virtually every building in north Korea back in 1950. By the way, I heard about that story first from U.S. Air Force officers, who partook in the bombing of north Korea. If there is another war in the Korean Peninsula, I’d sympathize with all the civilians on both sides of the lines because too many of them will be killed, which is why – as an American – I do NOT want war in Korea.

By the way, the Chief of Military Police back in 1981, asked me, “Why the heck would you ask such a silly question as that: is South Korea a democracy?!? I thought you were a lot more intelligent than to ask such a STUPID question!”

My answer to him was something like, “Well, Sir, I just thought I’d get an Nth confirmation of what I already know, Sir, as someday… I might find myself leading a bunch of my fellow Americans into combat… for what, Sir? For… democracy, Sir?”

“Oh, I see,” he said with a smile.

Thanks to his sound advice, I was careful how I asked questions in future while in South Korea and was sort of on the look-out for “undercover agents” of the South Korean government, who might be curious to know just what I was doing in their country from 1981 to 1984. Many Koreans assumed I was CIA, which I was not. Rather, I was just a very patriotic American, who wanted to know “the truth.” However, I guess if someone in the U.S. Government had looked at my background, they might have gotten the same idea that the Korean people got: (1) I had tied for first place in marksmanship in my class of Army ROTC, (2) my sergeant-trainers seemed to appreciate my tactical knowledge, (3) I was academically at the very top of my class of Army ROTC “cadidiots” (rarely pronounced “cadet” or “kay-det”); (4) I scored in the top 1% on the USMC officer candidate exam (USMC stands for “Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children); (5) Explosives? My great-grandfather was a dynamite man, who taught my grandfather, who taught my father…. (6) by age 21 I’d already studied Spanish, German, and Korean and would go on to study Russian, Japanese, and Chinese… and (7) I was “brain-washed” by watching all too many John Wayne and Clint Eastwood films as a child and… after the communist Vietnamese Viet Cong killed my much respected neighbor Major Howard Henry of the USMC when I was seven years old, I had only ONE MISSION IN LIFE: to learn how best to defeat America’s enemies in future and to kill as many communists as possible. Yes, I had “anger issues” as a young child. However, yes, I got “better.”

After three years in south Korea as a civilian college student, I was even more interested in understanding America’s enemies as a means of understanding how to DEFEAT them in WAR. However, when I returned to the University of Arizona and got heavy into reading and analyzing declassified CIA reports and other stuff from the U.S. Government, the more I realized that my father, who had spent most of his life since before World War II working for the U.S. Department of Defense directly or indirectly, was correct not to “trust” our Uncle Sam.

Hmmm…. Wanna talk about KAL 007 or the Kwangju Massacre of 1980? Did I mention that I was working for the Hanjin Transportation Group in Seoul, Korea, from 1982 to the Fall of 1983? The relationship between the two incidents is the ROK Army Special Forces. And, perhaps the CIA, however, no, I can neither confirm not deny that. However, “blue suits” had a field office of some sort in Hanjin’s Headquarters.

As for why I would post this on an alleged “North Korean” website, it is because my father often said with a smile, “COMMUNICATIONS ARE ESSENTIAL. Whether one is talking about a married couple or international relations involving life or death decisions for billions of human beings, COMMUNICATIONS ARE ESSENTIAL. Therefore, you should always be careful of what you say and how you say it because… your words and actions have an impact on how other’s act because…. COMMUNICATIONS ARE ESSENTIAL!”

Two years ago, during the American presidential campaign, when Barak Obama said he’d go talk with our enemies in Iran, Cuba, and North Korea, I remembered my late father’s words and also heard my fellow Arizonan Republican John McCain joyously and childishly singing his cute little song, “BOMB! BOMB! BOMB IRAN!!!,” and it caused me to vote for Obama. However, quite frankly, I see little or no progress in the arena of international relations, therefore, I am now trying to do something that any intelligent American would try to do: talk with America’s enemies. John Wayne and “Tricky Dick” Nixon would do just that.

By the way, some of the reasons that the United States Government does not want to normalize relations with north Korea include the following: (1) “WAR IS GOOD FOR THE AMERICAN ECONOMY!,” goes the old saying… which is to say that it helps the richer get rich; (2) “DIVIDE AND CONQUER!,” it’s a common strategy to divide and conquer one’s enemies, therefore a divided Korea makes her easier meat for the Japanese and Americans; and (3) the three nations, with which the U.S. has pursued isolation, i.e. Cuba, Iran, and North Korea, all have fairly reasonable reasons for “hating” what the U.S. Government did to them, therefore… perhaps the U.S. Government does not wish to normalize relations with north Korea because, if it did, more Americans would go to visit north Korea and see the tangible evidence of history there.

Quite frankly, however, I suspect that this website is not north Korean, however… what the heck. Even if I’m unable to talk with any north Koreans, perhaps I can at least allow someone else read these ideas somewhere.