[Letters] Remembering foreign sacrifices

Your May 19 column, titled “They doth protest too much,” pointed out some contradictions in the Korean psyche. Inadvertently the editorial writer pointed out another contradiction. It seems that even though many Koreans have a love-hate relationship with the United States, they think that it is the only other country in the world besides Korea.

Kim Jin states “It was the United States that defended liberal democracy from the misguided friendship between North Korea and China. Nearly 1.8 million troops fought in the war, and 54,000 were killed.”

The United States alone did not come to the defense of South Korea; it was the United Nations Joint Command that included 15 other member countries. It is unlikely that at any time there were 1.8 million troops fighting to defend South Korea. It is true that about 54,000 Americans were killed, but there were also young men and women from Turkey, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Ethiopia, Greece, Thailand, France, Colombia, Belgium, South Africa, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and my home country Canada who also lost their lives.

Every day I read in this newspaper how well Korea ranks compared to other countries in various socioeconomic indices, but rarely do I read about South Korea sending troops to assist other nations in their struggles for political freedom. How a nation serves its citizens and helps others is a true sign of development.

Janice L. Newton,

student at Kyungwon University