U.S. Army's Stay in Korea

영어 글쓰기 수업에서 자유 주제로 글을 하나 써오라고 해서..

한참을 고민하다가 정한 주제입니다.

 

"U.S. Army's Stay (or Station) in Korea"

 

지금은 그래도 조금 잠잠해 졌지만, 한참 말이 많았죠?

 

아직까지도 몇몇 단체들 (예: 주한미군 철수 운동본부 http://www.onecorea.org/) 은 미군 철수를 강력히 외치면서 미군철수 운동을 계속 진행해 오고 있습니다.

 

저는 이와 반대로, 주한미군 주둔을 찬성하는 입장에서 글을 써 보았습니다.

 

어느 언어로든 글을 잘 쓴다는 것은 정말이지 많은 연습과 노력이 필요하고, 또 그만치 어려운 것 같습니다. 더욱이 영어로 글을 잘 쓰는 사람들을 보면, 무지무지 부럽습니다ㅡ

어찌 그런 적절한 단어들을 적절한 문장에 배치를 시킬 수 있는 건지... ...

 

아무쪼록, 부족하지만 더 많은 분들께 평가를 받아보고자 글을 올립니다.

 

 

“Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met”

– A quote from the Korean War Memorial

 

During the Korean War, about 36,000 U.S. soldiers were killed on the battle field. Among them include the 8^th Division commander, Gen. Walker and his son, UN commander, Gen. Clark and his son, also President Eisenhower’s son. Korea’s freedom was protected by those who bravely fought for people “they never knew and never met”. Since the war was suspended in 1953 with an armistice agreement, the U.S. army has been stationed in Korea and accounted for keeping peace here as well as in Asia. Recently, however, the U.S. army’s stay in Korea has been questioned about its genuine purpose and need. It seems that the U.S. army staying in Korea creates some problems, but, in fact, without them we will face even greater problems.

First, we should not forget the fact that we are still at the verge of war. North and South Korea’s armed forces are not attacking at each other because we are currently in the period of truce. This is an inconvenient truth for many of us. Especially for the younger generation who view the claim that North Korea will invade South Korea an unbelievable and bogus claim. It’s not surprising because the majority of them do not even have a basic knowledge about the Korean War. They just do not care about the relationship between North and South Korea. They are happy as we are now and think that the people in the North feel the same way. Not true. North Korea is constantly seeking for a chance to invade South Korea. They have increasingly spent above 30 percent of their GDP to their military force. If they were not considering going to war once again, there would be no reason for them to keep increasing their militant force and developing new weapons. Even now, they are testing nuclear bombs, new missiles and new weapons. This is not only because they want to make our society psychologically unstable, but also because they are preparing for the time of its real use: killing people.

Second, having the U.S. army has lucrative economic benefits. According to the study done by an economist, Cho Dong-geun, it would cost Korea 23 trillion US dollars to equip the Korean military to be nearly the same as that of the U.S military force. If we spent this budget in some other fields like education, economic development or social development, it would hugely boost our nation. Furthermore if the U.S. army is no longer stationed in Korea, the risk in country would rapidly increase which means that foreign investors would not invest but would rather pull their investments out. A high possibility of war creates high risk for an investing firm, and high risk for the investing firm creates low economic growth in nation. Many foreign investors count on the U.S. army and its power, but if we lose them, we would have to face a great economic crisis. The U.S. army does not only save our budget, but also brings foreign investment money.

Lastly, the U.S. army staying in Korea keeps the alliance with the U.S, with whom one’s alliance is very important in the global world stronger. In order to survive globalization, one needs to be either a strong nation or have an alliance with a strong nation. Therefore a strong partnership with the U.S plays a very important role. In fact, it has been the key factor for Korea in developing the economy and politics. For instance, the U.S. is one of the best importers for Korean goods and one of the biggest markets. Keeping a good partnership with the U.S. is like a future investment for Korea. It also creates a more intense relationship and more cultural exchanges. As a matter of fact, some of the U.S. soldiers are actually volunteering as an English teacher in elementary schools and few others are involved in the Koreans-U.S. army family partnership programs. Alliance with the U.S. is our “win-win” strategy. Therefore, in order to have a stronger alliance with the U.S. we should start from having more general contact with the U.S. army.

It is true that to have the U.S. army stationed in Korea has some disadvantages like misuse of the land, sub-control of military power and U.S. soldiers’ misconduct. However we are receiving so much more economic and political benefits on the other hand. Korea is not the only nation to host the U.S army. In fact, the U.S. army has its station all over the world including Japan, Singapore, France, Italy and so on. All other nations are facing the same dilemma as we do, but they know the benefit of having them. While North Korea is constantly seeking for a chance to restart the war, let us not forget why they are not attacking us now. They are afraid. They are afraid of the possibility of losing the war, but they are not afraid of the South Korean military force alone. They are afraid of the world’s most powerful military force, the U.S.

Gun varies in its power and its shooting range. While every gun is little different from others, they all have something in common: a safety lock. When the safety lock is on, the gun cannot be fired. It does not matter how powerful the gun is or how far it can shoot. It just cannot be fired. A gun is dangerous, but if the safety lock is on, it is nothing more than a heavy metal stick. Therefore, what matters is not how dangerous it can be, but how safe it can be. For one thing, as long as the U.S. army stays in Korea, North Korea would not be able to unlock the safety of their guns. They will be under our control.