(I buried the most important part of this message in the last 3rd of it but didn't want to edit it to put it up front......sorry.....)

The effort of protest groups to gain average Korean support for obstruction of the base expansion has touched on another fundamental aspect of the anti-US Process in Korean society - Reminders...

Spread throughout each year are numerous anniversaries.

Each one can easily cause an increase in a spike in anti-US activity in the society as a whole

or

go by quietly - but noticed.


But, the effect of having all these anniversaries spread out all year long is significant.

(the image is from one of the anti-US protests via www.voiceofpeople.org showing an elementary student writing down notes for class at a cemetary for victims of the Kwangju Massacre. A video from this protests showed a couple dozen university student union members standing behind the graves while they solemly sang the "USFK Kick them out!! Kick them out!! USFK! Kick them out!!" song that you hear at many of the protests around Korea (whether for FTA, Kwangju, Pyongtaek, or things like Korea buying F-15Ks from Boeing)).

It means there is always one anniversary item handy for average Koreans to rally around ---- if they feel the time is right to vent.

It also means even when they don't feel like venting, they are frequently reminded of how the US in Korea has been ----- a cancer on their society but a necessary evil they can't cut out yet.

The Kwangju Massacre of 1980 is just one of these anniversaries.

Except for very conservative Koreans, the bulk of Korean society believes the US has just as much guilt on its hands for the massacre as the Korean military leaders who were taking over the government at the time and sent the soldiers to Kwangju.

You will hear Koreans at the top of the government mention this. Former president Kim Dae Jung mentioned it the other day. The former Unification Minister and front runner for the presidency out of Uri Party has talked about it a few times the last couple of years.

And each year when the Kwangju anniversary comes up, the blood on US hands is pictured again.

(A good boost to Korea's claims of US guilt, at least in Korean society, was given by an article I picked apart here.)

Other anniversaries that gain public attention each and every year do the same to at least partially remind average Koreans what a bad bully the US has been to Korea - despite any positive gains Korea might have gotten out of its relationship with the bastard Uncle Sam.

The Kwangju Massacre, the Cheju Island Massacre, Nogunri Massacre, the March 1st Movement, the start of the Korean War, the end of the Korean War, Independance Day, the 2002 tank accident, the colonization in 1905 and 1910, and more....

All are brought up periodically each year.

All are used by the press, the government, elements of pop culture, and the anti-US civic groups and more --------- to keep the foundation of anti-US attitudes from going stale.

At minimum ---- they are useful reminders repeated again and again and again each season.

At worst ----- when an anniversary comes up around a time when Korean society is feeling strong enough to let go of pent up energy ----- they make a spike in anti-US activity rise a good bit higher.

So, it is no suprise the anti-US groups have tried to gain support for Pyongtaek violent protests by playing up the anniversary of the Kwangju Massacre.

It is the norm.

The fact South Korean society has shot down the effort (this time) is also not suprising ---- because the Process of anti-US culture in Korea is about

keeping an acceptable amount of heat on the US in Korea --- never too hot but never cold.

Right now, with 1/4th of USFK leaving and hints that the US might want to remove much more or all of it ---

-----(like the news yesterday the US is thinking about putting a Peace Treaty on the table for negociation with the North)-------

it is no suprise South Korea's average Koreans have decided to keep things cool.

But, if it were not for fear of losing USFK (too soon) --- it would not have been a surprise to have seen the calls for "Remembering Kwangju" by Pyongtaek protest groups find a receptive ear in greater Korean society.

What you find over time is ----

individual issues are not too important.

Spikes in anti-US activity have more to do with South Korean society's mood and what they hope to gain or lose.

Thus ------ at a time when all of South Korea --- including the majority of the conservatives too -------- was utterly giddy with the prospects of peace and unification that came with the 2000 historic NK-SK Summit

20 measly gallons of fromaldhyde dumped into the Yongsan sewer ---- then processed 3 times before hitting the already highly polluted Han river in Seoul ---

sent ALL OF KOREANS SOICETY ---- into a mind-boggling angry frenzy.....

If you compare the society's reaction to the great water dump of 2000 with its reaction to the calls today to remember Kwangju 1980 for Pyongtaek ---

you will see ---- I believe -------

that Koreans society's refusal to join in the protests at Pyongtaek does not have to do with whether the society is anti-US in Korea or not........

it has to do with whether they feel it is the right time to be anti-American or not.

Today, they feel it would hurt them.

Tomorrow?????