The Asianist

Whether General Douglas MacArthur was a great strategist over a long military career is debatable. But what is certain is that his Inchon landing during the Korean War was sheer genius.

The maneuver turned the tide of the war decisively and almost won it (until the Chinese communist forces intervened).

In appreciation for this, the City of Inchon in South Korea hosts a statue of General MacArthur.

Lately, this statue has become a focal point between South Korean leftists (aka dupes for North Korea) who want a complete withdrawal of the US Forces Korea (USFK) and the conservatives who are, finally, fighting back against the madness. The conflict boiled over recently as 4,000 leftist "activists," demanding that the MacArthur statue be pulled, clashed with Korean police and about 1,000 conservatives.

The protest is splitting the ruling Uri Party:

Uri Party standing committee member Chang Young-dal told a meeting of legislators the people calling for the removal of the statue revealed a “deep ethnic purity" and warned the party to watch out for "ultra-rightists" latching on to the statue issue to band together and ratchet up tensions. But Rep. Han Kwang-won, whose constituency includes Freedom Park, said, "The statue was erected with donations from Incheon residents... If you are truly progressive, you must think about why MacArthur is a hero in the hearts of your elders and why he's become a symbol of Incheon."

Meanwhile, the opposition parties in South Korea are indignant:

The [conservative] Grand National Party has called on the government to take firm measures, which the party’s chairwoman Park Geun-hye said were needed against "acts shaking the Korea-U.S. alliance." GNP floor leader Kang Jae-seop said the movement "destroyed the basic principles of the nation." Incheon mayor Ahn Sang-soo told a press conference pulling the statue down or moving it elsewhere would not help the interests of the city or the nation. He also urged "outsiders" to stop making trouble in his city.

A spokesman for the minor opposition Millennium Democratic Party, Yoo Jong-pil, said, "Since MacArthur is a symbolic figure who protected liberal democracy in Korea, it is not desirable for a minority to translate their arbitrary historical interpretations into action."

Yes, there are South Koreans and their politicians who haven't lost all their senses. It appears, actually, that there is quite a few of them.

But the episode again demonstrates that the political left in South Korea is gripped by radicalism and violence, contrary to its claims of being open, democratic and progressive.

The Lost Nomad (great pics) and The Marmot's Hole have more coverages.