By The news about a spree of killings (assassinations) of Iranian nuclear scientists made me think about one of the anti-US/USFK myths/items I first heard about teaching Korean adults 1996-98.
There was a S. Korean Nuclear Scientist who studied in America. Supposedly he died in a car accident in America when he was about to make a nuclear bomb for Korea. During the 70′s this incident was reported all over Korean newspapers. Anyone have any information about this?
The scientist died in 1977 – which brings up some interesting trains of thought: that was after Park Chung-Hee had firmly established the continuation of his rule after the earlier changes in the South Korean constitution – called the Yusin period.
It was also immediately around the time President Carter tried to fulfill a campaign promise to remove all US troops from South Korea.
There isn’t much at that the link above, but it sums up what I was told about the case when the students would explain why South Korean society disliked the US “interference” in Korean society and wanted USFK out (but not just right now, I eventually discovered).
It wasn’t something I heard brought up nearly as much the idea US soldiers are "never” held accountable for the many bad crimes they commit in Korea each year but just fly away home. (GI Korea has done a good job covering this issue. By the way, the first time GIs were found guilty in a Korean court was 1968…) But it did seem to be a widely believed truth.
Today, I googled and found out a highly likely reason why this myth was in their minds back then:
Some months ago I was reading Kim Chinmyŏng’s bestseller The Mugunghwa blossoms(무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다, 1993). When this alternative historical novel came out it quickly sold around 4 million copies. And indeed, for Koreans the story must be an entertaining read.
In this novel, an investigation into the death/murder of the scientist by evil forces leads to the peaceful unification of the peninsula, I guess as North and South unite against their true common enemy:
Meanwhile Japan is trying hard to keep Korea from unifying, since they feel threatened by the vast economic power Korea might then become. In the end Japan sees no other way but to destroy Korea’s economic facilities and start a war.
Read the whole of link, because it covers the case far more than I know:
The story itself was based on the life of scientist Yi Hwiso who indeed died because of a car accident in 1977. A huge debate arose between the writer and family members of Yi Hwiso on the way his life was depicted in the book. In the novel Yi was working together with Park Chunghee on establishing a Korean nuclear program, however in reality Yi was very critical of Park’s dictatorship rule.
What I do know is that in the late 1990s, this “evidence” was brought up more than once as part of the list of reasons South Korean society didn’t like the US-SK relationship and USFK.
The man’s English name was Benjamin Lee. In Korean it is 이휘소 for any with Korean language skills (unlike myself) who want to look up info.
The post quoted above goes on to say last year KBS did a documentary to explore the facts and fictions about this death. It doesn’t tell which way the piece leaned. Maybe someone with Korean language skills will check it out.
Hopefully, it moved viewers away from the idea the CIA murdered the man to prevent South Korea from getting The Bomb – which is what I was told happened back in the late 1990s…
11:02 pm on July 23rd, 2011 1
“There was a S. Korean Nuclear Scientist who studied in America. Supposedly he died in a car accident in America when he was about to make a nuclear bomb for Korea. During the 70′s this incident was reported all over Korean newspapers. Anyone have any information about this?”
Supposedly? He did, and I find it very unlikely that he was assassinated. He was traveling to a conference with his family when his car was struck by a tractor-trailer (they weren’t seriously harmed in the accident). Most of these accidents are caused by the truck driver falling asleep.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_W._Lee
http://history.fnal.gov/lee_conference.html#memorial
” At no time during his career, Ben was ever associated with any of
the national weapons lab such as Los Alamos, Livermore or Sandia. Now,
we all know the physics principle of nuclear fission, but that does not
make any of us, nuclear and particle physicists, experts in nuclear
weaponry. We all know how an internal combustion works: a mixture
of gasoline and air, when ignited by sparks, can be source of energy,
but that is a far cry from us being expert automobile engine designers!
No, Ben Lee had not been associated with any of the nuclear
weaponry project. In this sense, the answer to the question, “Korea’s
Oppenheimer?” is most certainly no.”
http://www.phy.duke.edu/~myhan/kaf0205.html
I saw a documentary on his life last year and the reporters were able to track down the truck driver. So, one of the key points held by the conspiracy theorists, which is that the name of the truck driver was a fabrication, is utter and complete BS.
11:05 pm on July 23rd, 2011 2
“Read the whole of link, because it covers the case far more than I know:
The story itself was based on the life of scientist Yi Hwiso who indeed died because of a car accident in 1977. A huge debate arose between the writer and family members of Yi Hwiso on the way his life was depicted in the book. In the novel Yi was working together with Park Chunghee on establishing a Korean nuclear program, however in reality Yi was very critical of Park’s dictatorship rule.
What I do know is that in the late 1990s, this “evidence” was brought up more than once as part of the list of reasons South Korean society didn’t like the US-SK relationship and USFK.
The man’s English name was Benjamin Lee. In Korean it is 이휘소 for any with Korean language skills (unlike myself) who want to look up info.
The post quoted above goes on to say last year KBS did a documentary to explore the facts and fictions about this death. It doesn’t tell which way the piece leaned. Maybe someone with Korean language skills will check it out.”
Crap, I’m repeating what you’ve already written. I should have read the whole thing before leaving my comment.
11:22 pm on July 23rd, 2011 3
It is just as likely that you read it while I was editing by adding to it…
11:24 pm on July 23rd, 2011 4
If you watched the KBS documentary and had the Korean skills to understand it well, what position did it take on the likely nature of the death – accident or a hit?
11:24 pm on July 23rd, 2011 5
An Iranian physicist, Daryoush Rezaie, was murdered Saturday afternoon. Majid Shahriari was killed in Novemvber. In January 2010, it was Massoud Ali-Mohammadi. The CNN wire staff gives some details.
12:09 am on July 24th, 2011 6
#4,
I didn’t watch the whole thing, but it seemed to me that it was more about him than about proving or disproving any conspiracy theory.
4:38 am on July 25th, 2011 7
Koreans wish to discuss US-South Korean relations of the 1970′s? Ask Tongsun Park how he feels about it. Look it up if you don’t know the name.
6:51 pm on July 25th, 2011 8
america did it
8:01 pm on July 25th, 2011 9
This type of propaganda is common and not limited to this. I don’t remember names but a while back the Korean media was saying the US was happy with something they did. Meanwhile, the US media was questioning why Korea wasn’t doing what they agreed to do. Korea tries to protect its image (and there are many specific examples of this). So why should any of this surprise us?
8:01 am on July 26th, 2011 10
Read a story about Korea in a Korean newspaper and it’s completely different than those printed in the rest of the world about the same story or issue.
10:28 am on July 26th, 2011 11
Small Wonder,
Thanks for the tip : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongsun_Park
3:27 pm on August 20th, 2011 12
An Iranian court has sentenced Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal to eight years in prison.
1:41 am on September 1st, 2011 13
The Speaker of Iran’s parliament will visit North Korea and China. CNN has a brief report.
6:52 pm on September 3rd, 2011 14
The planned visit by the Iranian parliament speaker has been postponed, says CNN. Ali Larijani will visit North Korea and China some other time.
7:34 pm on September 3rd, 2011 15
Pucking PPalgan Chungguk AGAIN!