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Originally Posted by HPLovecraft
I'm not so sure this would be the case if Canada had a similar history of a war of aggression against us that the US (and others) defended us from. Not to mention what would happen if the US didn't have a military presence in the face of one of the largest armies in the entire world.
The whole "anti-US" thing in S. Korea strikes me as a phase whiny teenagers go through when they try to rebel. S. Korea is probably the only country in the world that absolutely, positively relies on a US military presence to not only guarantee its continued freedom, but its very way of life. I find it hard to believe educated adults that aren't communists would want to see the Americans leave.
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Rightly or wrongly there is more to anti-american feelings. There have been incidents in the history of this relationship. There were massacres and rapes during the Korean War. Similar to some incidents that American forces did to South Vietnam in the 60s. We know that American forces on foreign lands don't always behave properly.
Also the US supported a pretty ruthless dictator Park Chung Hee during the 70s in South Korea. Not counting the US, South Korea sent the most troops to Vietnam and Koreans also felt it was an unnecessary war to enter and being it was only to win favour with the US. For a long time, Korea was ruled like an African or South American dictator that was a US puppet.
It has improved now but not enough that old feelings have gone away. Koreans, even though they are being protected, still feel occupied and nobody likes that.