맥아더 장군의 제 2의 인천 상륙 작전: 동상을 둘러싼 분쟁의 함의 = General MacArthur's Another Inch'on Landing: Implications of the Conflict over His Statue

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<Abstract>
General MacArthur's Another Inch'on Landing:
Implications of the Conflict over His Statue

Kim, Jin-wung


This study intends to examine implications of the recent conflict between the “progressives” and the “conservatives” over General Douglas MacArthur's statue at Freedom Park in Inch'on. The conflict has three implied meanings. First, it was basically caused by a steady improvement in South Korean views of North Korea in recent years, particularly after the implementation of South Korea's active engagement policy toward its northern neighbor. Recent South Korean perceptions could be described as Stockholm syndrome, the behavior of kidnap victims who, over time, become sympathetic to their captors. Second, the conflict is a typical example of the “South-South conflict” raging between the “progressives” and the “conservatives” over South Korean views of North Korea, the proper policy toward the communist country, and the future of the Republic of Korea-U.S. alliance. Third, it symbolizes the weakening of the ROK-U.S. military alliance, which has successfully deterred North Korean aggression for more than five decades.
According to an opinion survey of 748 South Koreans, conducted by Chungang Ilbo, or Central daily, on 21 October 2005, only 11 percent of the respondents supported the removal of the MacArthur statue, whereas 88 percent opposed it. When the trend of increasingly pro-North Korean, anti-American opinion continues in South Korean society, however, General MacArthur's statue will undergo ordeals in the forthcoming years.