Korean Americans Speak Out for Peace, Demilitarization
By May Chow | AsianWeek Staff Writer
New Year’s Eve is typically when revelers party until the late hours, drinking and dancing until the clock strikes midnight and a new year is welcomed. But this year, many celebrated the dawn of 2003 on a somber note.
From California to Chicago, thousands of Korean Americans gathered to remember and honor two little girls: Shin Hyo-soon and Shin Mi-sun, 13-year-olds killed last June by two U.S. soldiers.
Fernando Nino and Mark Walker, both sergeants with the U.S. Army, ran over the two girls with a 50-ton military vehicle in South Korea. The incident raised anger among Koreans but also touched a nerve with many Korean Americans. Immediately after the accident, many in the United States made a renewed call for the removal of U.S. troops from South Korea, sparking a wave of demonstrations and rallies across the nation.
When a court martial acquitted the two soldiers in November, protestors gathered outside the courthouse in Korea and in cities nationwide in the United States to voice their anger over the outcome of the tragic event.
Under an agreement between the United States and Seoul, the U.S. military has legal jurisdiction over troops committing crimes in South Korea while on duty. The South Korean government asked for the case to be handled by their courts, but were denied the request.
Although Nino apologizes to the families of the two girls, many believe he got off too easily.
“I am so sorry for the grief and pain you have felt at the loss of your daughters,” said Nino in a statement. “Even though it was by accident, I have to live with the anguish of knowing that two individuals died as a result of the accident.”
Walker also said he felt “great remorse” over the deaths.
“I know my mental turmoil is surely nothing compared to your sadness and pain,” he said in a statement. “In my year here in Korea, I have really come to love and respect the Korean people.”
Walker was steering the tank that crushed the girls to death as they walked past a military convoy on their way to a birthday party.
This case has fueled anti-U.S. sentiment in South Korea, which is home to 37,000 U.S. troops under a mutual defense pact dating back to the Korean War.
Yong-bin Yuk, director of the Los Angeles-based Mindullae Center for Korean Community Development, which works on both local issues and international issues such as the peaceful reunification of Korea, said his organization co-hosted a delegation of representatives from Korea in December.
The delegation delivered 1.3 million petitions to the White House, demanding a re-trial of the two soldiers, a revision of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and a sincere apology from President Bush.
“We have been [trying] to raise awareness among Americans of the problems created by the U.S. military occupation of South Korea, of which the death of the two schoolgirls is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Yuk. “Thirty-seven thousand troops are stationed in 93 military bases to ‘protect’ Koreans; however, tanks and armored vehicles trample over the fields of farmers, pour toxic chemicals into the rivers and devastate the environment.”
Yuk added that fighter jets drop depleted uranium in bombing ranges alongside villages. One disturbing trend he says is that American soldiers commit an average of three crimes a day against Korean citizens.
“Over the last 35 years, U.S. military personnel have committed over 100,000 crimes against Korean civilians,” said Yuk. “However, under the SOFA between the U.S. and South Korea, the majority of these crimes are tried in U.S. military court, and an alarming 96 percent of the soldiers go unpunished.”
The recent media blitz about U.N inspections in North Korea has also sparked concern among many Korean Americans. In regards to the U.S. relations with North Korea, Yuk said the main problem, aside from the issue of nuclear weapons, is the lack of quality information that has inundated the mainstream press.
“We are therefore working on a campaign to balance the media coverage of this issue,” he said. “Most of what we hear is what the White House tells us. What’s missing is a critical objective analysis of the details and the context, or background of why the crisis exists.”
Yuk said that Korean Americans and Americans must understand that all North Korea is demanding is that the United States recognize North Korea’s sovereignty (its right to exist); that the United States make formal, verifiable assurances that it will not attack North Korea (including the use of nuclear weapons); and that the United States not interfere with North Korea’s economic development.
“Most people, if they knew this fact, would agree that these are not extraordinary demands and are definitely worth the price of averting a devastating war on the Korean peninsula,” said Yuk.
Ken Kilnam Roh, editor of Minjok-Tongshin, a Korean American Internet daily, said many in South Korea as well as overseas Koreans want to have one Korea instead of two.
“All Koreans now understand which countries dislike the idea of having only one Korea: they are the United States and Japanese politicians,” said Roh.
Korean Americans of all ages overwhelmingly support a peaceful resolution to the current crisis between the Bush administration and North Korea. Yuk said the reason behind this is because of the older generations lived through the horror and devastation of the last American war on the Korean peninsula.
“An American war against North Korea today would instantly kill several hundred thousands civilians within a matter of weeks and war would ravage across the Korean peninsula and Japan,” said Yuk. “After 50 years of Korean division and U.S. military occupation, people in South Korea are feeling a strong desire for peaceful reconciliation. This feeling is gradually becoming mirrored within the Korean immigrant community in the United States.”
Mira Im, 22, whose organization, Young Koreans United (YKU) sponsored a candlelight vigil in Chicago on New Year’s Eve for the two girls, said YKU focused primarily on global peace for 2003 at the vigil.
Im, who emigrated from Korea to the United States when she was 10 years old, said many who were present at the vigil shared the same sentiment of asking for the revision of SOFA and for North and South Korea to begin negotiation talks.
With a myriad of concerns for Korean Americans, the main issue seems to be that of war, since Korean Americans have roots in both Korea and the United States.
“As residents, taxpayers and citizens of this country, we feel it is our responsibility, our duty to push for a peaceful resolution to the crisis in North Korea as well as in Iraq,” said Yuk.
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