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South Koreans Divided on Reactions to Knife Attack on U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert South Koreans Divided on Reactions to Knife Attack on U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert
(about 3 hours later)
SEOUL, South Korea — The knife attack last week on the American ambassador to South Korea, Mark W. Lippert, set off an outpouring of good wishes here for both the envoy and Seoul’s alliance with Washington.SEOUL, South Korea — The knife attack last week on the American ambassador to South Korea, Mark W. Lippert, set off an outpouring of good wishes here for both the envoy and Seoul’s alliance with Washington.
But the response, led largely by conservative South Koreans, has now provoked a backlash, with accusations that the government of President Park Geun-hye and its supporters are “worshiping” America and politicizing the case to discredit their critics. But the response, led largely by conservative South Koreans, has provoked a backlash, with accusations that the government of President Park Geun-hye and its supporters are “worshiping” America and politicizing the case to discredit their critics.
Kim Ki-jong, a professed nationalist with a history of erratic outbursts of violence, slashed Mr. Lippert with a kitchen knife during a breakfast meeting last Thursday. The assault left a four-inch gash on Mr. Lippert’s right cheek that required 80 stitches and damaged tendons and nerves in his left hand. Kim Ki-jong, a professed nationalist with a history of erratic outbursts of violence, slashed Mr. Lippert with a kitchen knife during a breakfast meeting last Thursday. The assault left a four-inch gash on Mr. Lippert’s right cheek and damaged tendons and nerves in his left hand.
When the South Korean news media carried images of Mr. Lippert splattered with blood, the public initially reacted with shock. Well-wishers flooded Mr. Lippert’s blog and Twitter account, and they posted messages on signs that conservative activists put up near the United States Embassy in Seoul. The tone of the messages, however, quickly turned into one of guilt and apology. When the South Korean news media carried images of Mr. Lippert splattered with blood, the public initially reacted with shock. Well-wishers flooded Mr. Lippert’s blog and Twitter account, and they posted messages on signs that conservative activists put up near the United States Embassy in Seoul. The tone of the messages quickly turned into one of guilt and apology.
In South Korea, mainstream conservative ideology teaches people to regard the United States as a savior that sacrificed the lives of tens of thousands of its soldiers while fighting for the South during the 1950-53 Korean War. Many Koreans, especially those who are older, saw Mr. Kim not only as a senseless criminal, but also as an ingrate — the most despised character in Korea’s deeply Confucian culture. In South Korea, mainstream conservative ideology teaches people to regard the United States as a savior that sacrificed the lives of tens of thousands of its soldiers while fighting for the South during the Korean War. Many Koreans, especially those who are older, saw Mr. Kim not only as a senseless criminal, but also as an ingrate — the most despised character in Korea’s deeply Confucian culture.
“So Sorry,” read a banner in front of a lone activist on the street near the hospital where Mr. Lippert was recovering. The activist said he was re-enacting an ancient Korean custom in which a sinner seeking forgiveness would sit on a straw mat on the street and fast. The man, Shin Dong-wook, is the president’s brother-in-law. On Monday, a crowd of older South Koreans in military uniforms rallied near the American Embassy, urging fellow citizens “not to forget what the Americans did for us during the war” and to “eradicate jongbuk,” or sympathizers with North Korea, who they said were behind the attack on the ambassador.
On Monday, a crowd of older South Koreans in military uniforms, some with canes, rallied near the American Embassy, urging fellow citizens “not to forget what the Americans did for us during the war” and to “eradicate jongbuk,” or sympathizers with North Korea, who they said were behind the attack on the ambassador.
Such sentiments reflected fears that the episode might harm the alliance with Washington.Such sentiments reflected fears that the episode might harm the alliance with Washington.
Yet it did not take long for a counterreaction to kick in.Yet it did not take long for a counterreaction to kick in.
“This is too much! What they did was almost like god worshiping,” one blogger said. Another compared the wave of “I love America” feelings to shrines that ancient Koreans built to worship China for sending troops to help fight Japanese invaders.“This is too much! What they did was almost like god worshiping,” one blogger said. Another compared the wave of “I love America” feelings to shrines that ancient Koreans built to worship China for sending troops to help fight Japanese invaders.
John Delury, an American professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, said, “South Koreans felt shock and deep sympathy on a personal level for the U.S. ambassador, even a sense of guilt that he suffered this brutal attack as a guest in their country.”John Delury, an American professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, said, “South Koreans felt shock and deep sympathy on a personal level for the U.S. ambassador, even a sense of guilt that he suffered this brutal attack as a guest in their country.”
“But now government officials and political parties are hyper-politicizing what was really an isolated incident,” he said, “linking it to a campaign against ‘pro-North Korea followers’ and as a way to drum up support for the U.S.-South Korean alliance.”“But now government officials and political parties are hyper-politicizing what was really an isolated incident,” he said, “linking it to a campaign against ‘pro-North Korea followers’ and as a way to drum up support for the U.S.-South Korean alliance.”
Indeed, Ms. Park and conservative leaders lost no time in insinuating a possible link between Mr. Kim and “jongbuk.” They quickly defined Mr. Kim’s deed as a “terrorist attack on the South Korean-U.S. alliance” — rather than an act by a loner, as initial investigations appeared to suggest — and called for a thorough investigation into “behind-the-scene forces.” Ms. Park and conservative leaders lost no time in insinuating a possible link between Mr. Kim and “jongbuk,” and defined the assault as a “terrorist attack” on the alliance rather than the act of a loner.
A parade of South Korean leaders, including Ms. Park, visited Mr. Lippert in the hospital. Yet many South Koreans with deep historical grievances against the United States, especially over the division of the Korean Peninsula into the pro-Soviet North and the pro-American South at the end of World War II, began accusing the government and its conservative supporters of toady “sadaejuyi,” or big-country worship.
“I hate the crazy man who stabbed the ambassador, and as a Korean, I feel like apologizing deeply to the Americans,” said Kim Mi-hyun, 36, who watched a group of Christian church members perform a traditional fan dance and kneel in contrition across a boulevard from the American Embassy on Saturday. “But this scene makes me sick at the stomach. They are way overdoing it, and it actually will damage the image of the Americans and the alliance among Koreans.”“I hate the crazy man who stabbed the ambassador, and as a Korean, I feel like apologizing deeply to the Americans,” said Kim Mi-hyun, 36, who watched a group of Christian church members perform a traditional fan dance and kneel in contrition across a boulevard from the American Embassy on Saturday. “But this scene makes me sick at the stomach. They are way overdoing it, and it actually will damage the image of the Americans and the alliance among Koreans.”
The police have charged Mr. Kim with attempted murder. But they are also said to be investigating whether they could charge him with violating the country’s National Security Law. On Monday, the main opposition party, New Politics Alliance for Democracy, said the government was using the law and Mr. Kim’s case to “hunt ‘jongbuk.’ ”
David Straub, a former United States diplomat who served in the embassy in Seoul, said that invoking the National Security Law to deal with Mr. Kim seemed to be “unwisely elevating the violent behavior of one deranged person and ascribing to it a significance it does not deserve.”
In comments posted on the website of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Mr. Straub added, “The U.S. government has criticized that law for decades for the McCarthyite way South Korean governments have sometimes implemented it to suppress alleged ‘pro-North Korean’ thinking.”