Why do North Koreans hate us?

zoogs

zoogs

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The Intercept: https://theintercept.com/2017/05/03/why-do-north-koreans-hate-us-one-reason-they-remember-the-korean-war/

How many Americans, for example, are aware of the fact that U.S. planes dropped on the Korean peninsula more bombs 635,000 tons and napalm 32,557 tons than during the entire Pacific campaign against the Japanese during World War II?

How many Americans know that over a period of three years or so, to quote Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay, head of the Strategic Air Command during the Korean War, we killed off 20 percent of the population?

Twenty. Percent. For a point of comparison, the Nazis exterminated 20 percent of Polands pre-World War II population. According to LeMay, We went over there and fought the war and eventually burned down every town in North Korea.

Every. Town. More than 3 million civilians are believed to have been killed in the fighting, the vast majority of them in the north.
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I know a few things about the Korean War -- for example, I believe we learned about MacArthur's nuclear plan in school. Never had it put in such stark terms, however.

This article is correct. We can't afford this kind of amnesia. Especially as it informs our views about how the US should conduct its current and future foreign policy.

 
Fru said:
North Koreans? Hell, I'm still trying to figure out why Republicans hate us.
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Republicans? Hey, why do you hate America, Fru?
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Edit- How do I get the video to show up properly instead of it being a link? Isn't it just [ youtube ]....[ /youtube ]? Or does being on mobile have something to do with it?
 
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I read part of the article yesterday and came away with this is in large part an article that is nothing more than a..."let's see how we can look at history in an anti-American way"...piece.

I think the people who stayed in power in North Korea have proven why we didn't want them controlling lives of more people. The world would be better off if the North Korean government never existed.

 
BigRedBuster said:
I think the people who stayed in power in North Korea have proven why we didn't want them controlling lives of more people. The world would be better off if the North Korean government never existed.
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Both this and a dim view of the way the war was conducted (through any objective lens) can be valid.

 
Yes.

For the record, it was the North Koreans, and not the Americans or their South Korean allies, who started the war in June 1950, when they crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded the south. Nevertheless, “What hardly any Americans know or remember,” University of Chicago historian Bruce Cumings writes in his book “The Korean War: A History,” “is that we carpet-bombed the north for three years with next to no concern for civilian casualties.”
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(emphasis mine)

 
Are Americans more prone to forgetfulness than anyone else? Why the fingerwagging at us when this is simple human nature? Did Europe forget the horrors of World War I in the twenty years between the wars? Even if they didn't, they repeated the mistake two decades later.

 
"The North Koreans" hate us mainly because their insane rulers have spent about 7 decades brain washing and indoctrinating the people with nothing but hateful propaganda while simultaneously ruling over them with an iron fist, using every form of lethal and non-lethal force and compulsion. The North Korean regime is nothing short of evil and brutal and has threatened the South Koreans as well as most other neighbors with military attack ever since the ceasefire was arranged in the early 1950s. Legally the United States remains 'at war' with North Korea ever since they invaded the South.

Not sure I can address the claims of 'carpet bombing' and other statements referred to above but one has to remember that the Korean war followed the conclusion of World War II by only about 5 years and America and nearly all Americans were completely fatigued by WWII and the thought of another major war effort with the potential loss of many more men in a drawn out ground war with NKoreans was simply unthinkable.

But stopping another Asian country's maniacal leaders from invading and conquering territory (just as Hitler did a a few years previously) was also unthinkable. The risk of doing nothing, as had been the mistake a decade earlier when western Europe and the U.S. failed to respond quicker vs. Germany when it began its massive land grabs and take overs, also was too high. The general thinking was to fight hard and make a statement to the North Koreans that the penalty for their actions was far too high and therefore they relented as they did. Sadly, after all this time and efforts by so many countries to bring about change of regime and improvement without further military action has not worked. It appears we are near the end of the non-military options and a North Korea with ICBM nukes is absolutely unthinkable as well. North Korea should have been stopped 5 years or more ago with their first 'test launches' and crazy threats of nuclear annihilation of the South Koreans and neighbors as well as the U.S.

Short of nukes, the N. Koreans have a relatively weak conventional military and could not last long in a conventional type conflict with the U.S., the South Koreans and other allied forces which would respond. But this will be a dicey situation as the North has short range missles that can do great harm to their hated South Korean 'neighbors'.

 
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