South Korea Divided

South Korea Divided

      Imagine going to a family reunion; to a large group of family members and relatives who love you and have not seen you in a while. They also want you to stay with them for a few days. For some reason, your relative treat you as if you are a god to them whenever they see you. One day, your distant cousin comes up and attacks you, causing some injuries. You begin to think that your family really don't like you secretly and have been plotting behind your back, and this makes you angry. When your relatives find out about your cousin's attack, most feel sorry for you deeply and go at great lengths to apologize for the damage done, claiming that they had nothing to do with your cousin. They even go far as not liking him for the attack. On the other hand, some relatives praise the cousin, saying that their actions were completely justified. The people of South Korea are put in a similar situation and now the country is divided on 2 sides.

      Thursday March 5, a man named Kim Ki-jong attacked South Korea's American ambassador, Mark W. Lippert, with a knife. The attack left Lippert with cuts on his face and wrists, yet there were no other serious injuries. Unlike other, more serious attacks in the past, Ki-jong acted alone and was not part of any kind of organization. Ki-jong was protesting against the annual joint military exercises. The purpose of Foal Eagle is to show South Korean-U.S. military resolve to discourage war on the Korean peninsula and to improve those forces. He is currently being charge with murder.

      South Koreans took to social media with guilt, apologizing for the attack and giving their ambassador wishes to get well. Others stood outside the U.S. Embassy to put up messages on signs with the American flag. In South Korea, the people's ideology teaches others that the U.S. is a hero because they saved the laves of many Koreans while sacrificing themselves during the Korean War in 1953. This leads many older natives in uniforms to urge citizens to "never forget what the Americans did for us during the war" and to "eradicate jongbuk" or sympathizers. Others go against this, saying "This is too much! What they did is almost like god-worshiping." Another on social media compared the wave of "I love America" feelings to shrines ancient Koreans used to worship China for sending troops to help fight Japanese invaders.

      "I hate the crazy man who stabbed the ambassador, and as a Korean, I feel like apologizing deeply to the Americans," said Kim Mi-hyun, 36, who watched a group of Christian church members preform a traditional fan dnace and kneel in contrition across a boulevard from the American Embassy on Saturday. "This scene makes me sick to my stomach."

      There is an investigation on whether South Korean police should charge Ki-jong with violating the National Security Law. While this goes on, South Koreans divide among themselves to pick the sides of the American ambassador of the Korean assailant.

Sources found form nytimes.com and washingtontimes.com