The Korean peninsula is much in the news these days. U.S. relations with both North and South Korea are mired in controversy. North Korea has announced that it is developing a nuclear weapons program, and that it has withdrawn from agreements that have restrained them in the past. North Korea has been making hostile declarations toward the U.S. provoking anxiety, fear, and distrust all over the world. South Korea is being presented in the media as becoming a problem for the U.S. as well. While N. Korea has announced its withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and that it is resuming long-range ballistic missile tests, S. Korea is portrayed as boiling with anti-American sentiment. Articles in the Washington Post and the New York Times have helped to fuel these fears. For example, they dealt with the anti-American protest in S. Korea as a very serious and unfavorable event between the U.S. and S. Korea.

However, is it as bad as it’s made to seem? Is the half-century relationship between the U.S. and S. Korea shaken to its roots? If the reporting is accurate, such discord between the two countries will make it more difficult to solve the problem of N. Korea.

In fact, there have been several anti-American rallies protesting the acquittal of two U.S. soldiers for killing two schoolgirls during their training in S. Korea. Most recently, on Jan. 4th, a candlelight vigil suggested by anonymous Internet sources, led to a rally near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. The American media reported on those protests with photographs and long articles including suggesting deep differences between the two countries.

Meanwhile, a pro-American rally with about 30,000 demonstrators was held in front of City Hall in Seoul. Participants held green balloons and written slogans such as “Peace, Penitence, and Reconciliation,” The New York Times, Washington Post and other mainstream American media virtually ignored this rally. The New York Times just used a photograph of protestors holding signs supporting the presence of U.S. troops-and only two lines of explanation.

The Washington Post reported on the anti-American sentiment as a deep gulf between the U.S. and S. Korea. It quoted a S. Korean poll, by the Korean Gallup company, on approval or disapproval of the U.S. The results were that more than 53% of S. Koreans surveyed said that they dislike the U.S., while those who answered that they like the U.S. declined from 64% to 37%. However, according to another recent poll, 76% of S. Koreans supported the presence of the U.S. military on the Korea peninsular. Didn’t the Washington Post know about such a pro-American poll, and the pro-American protest? What is the reason that papers such as the Washington Post and New York Times didn’t deal with those facts? Not enough space? Or, did they regard the anti-American sentiment as a very important and serious problem for the U.S. Are they trying to get the Bush administration to change their position toward the Korean peninsula?

Recently in S. Korea, rallies seem to be divided into diverse directions-the anti-American, pro-American, anti-war and so on. Indeed, the number of the anti-American protests has declined while more reasonable voices are growing up. The S. Korean government expressed regrets and cares about the anti-American sentiment. The president-elect, Roh called on those demonstrating to restrain from their anti-American protests. S. Korea wants to make the relationship between the two countries more cordial and to improve in areas of economics, culture and the military. It’s time that both countries spare no effort to understand each other because the sincerity between both is very important to solve the puzzle of N. Korea. If the major U.S. media want to solve that puzzle, not alienate the U.S. from S. Korea, they should have a more balanced view on S. Korea’ s sentiments toward the U.S.

Ji Yeon Lee is an intern at Accuracy in Media. She is from South Korea.

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