Is it any wonder why Korea has such a negative image in America compared to Japan? One day you have Japanese Prime Minister Kozoumi throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium before the Red Sox vs Yankees game and receiving a standing ovation. Then the next day you have reports of a Korean spook organizing and giving money to the John Kerry campaign in a possible effort to influence the national election.

This story is making national news in the states and was featured prominently on the Rush Limbaugh Show. Here is an exerpt from the transcript,

“This is not the only fund-raising scandal that appears to be brewing in the Kerry campaign. Get this: “A South Korean man who met with John Kerry’s fund-raisers to discuss creating a new political group for Korean-Americans was actually an intelligence agent for his country, raising concerns among some U.S. officials that either he or his government may have tried to influence this fall’s election. The spokesman for the South Korean consulate office…” This guy’s name, by the way, is Chung. What is it with the Democratic Party and funny money donors named Chung? In Clinton’s case it was a guy named Johnny Chung. This guy’s name is Chung Byung-Man. He’s a consular officer in Los Angeles, actually worked for South Korea’s national intelligence service.”

“A spokesman for the South Korean consulate office said that Chung Byung-Man was sent home in May amid speculation that he became involved with the Kerry campaign and Democratic Party through contacts with fund-raiser Rick Yi and that his identity could not be discussed further. Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton said that the campaign did not know that Chung was an intelligence agent or that Yi, one of the campaign’s key fund-raisers in the Asian-American community was meeting with him until it was brought to light by the AP.”

Could you imagine what would happen if the CIA was caught helping out a campaign against President Roh? Then you add all the anti-American protests, the sluggish response to send troops to Iraq, constant labor strife, unwillingness to take strong measures against North Korea, and now the Yongsan garrison issue and it is no wonder Korea has such a bad image in America. The Korean government likes to blame America for a lot of things, but they cannot blame America for their bad image; they can only blame themselves.

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