Maxprop wrote:
"Jonathan Ganz" wrote in message
...

In article ,
Vito wrote:

"Jonathan Ganz" wrote

No. I believe that indoctrination over the course of one's life can be
enough to prevent someone from acting intelligently or in their own
best interests. They are not able to think independently. A good
example is a significant portion of the N. Korean population. Either
by fear or religious ferver, they are trapped.


Bad example. If the NK government disappeared, and the coercion with it,
the
NKs would join the south in a heartbeat.

Actually, there are been instances of both situations. Some people
can't change, others can.


Neither of you two seem to realize that the young folks in S. Korea (under
the age of roughly 30 or so) strongly dislike the US, and want nothing more
than a reunited Korea. Most feel the US is responsible for polarizing the
country and keeping it that way. They may be right, but chances are the
resulting united Korea would be a bit more like the north than the south.
That would be most unfortunate considering the huge economic impact on the
world that South Korea is currently experiencing.

Max


Our oldest son is a professor of English in Pusan (Busan) and has a
Korean wife. His take is that whatever we here in the States know
about Korea is corrupted by the American press. When we have
called, concerned about something that has happened over there, he
almost always laughs and says "Why do you believe that crap on the
news? It's all propoganda." And you are correct..the average S.
Korean does want reunification. The reason, though, is that they
want the cheap labor that N. Korea would afford them. When we've
asked my daughter-in-law if they would ever consider moving back
here, she smiles and shakes her head. They could not have the
lifestyle here on a professor's salary that they do there. She has
a nanny for the kids and a full time housekeeper...if N. Koreans
were let in, says she, she would be able to get help for even less
than they pay now but would stuill be paying those people more than
they have ever made before.

"katy" wrote
Our oldest son is a professor of English in Pusan (Busan) and has a
Korean wife. His take is that whatever we here in the States know
about Korea is corrupted by the American press. When we have
called, concerned about something that has happened over there, he
almost always laughs and says "Why do you believe that crap on the
news? It's all propoganda." And you are correct..the average S.
Korean does want reunification. The reason, though, is that they
want the cheap labor that N. Korea would afford them. When we've
asked my daughter-in-law if they would ever consider moving back
here, she smiles and shakes her head. They could not have the
lifestyle here on a professor's salary that they do there. She has
a nanny for the kids and a full time housekeeper...if N. Koreans
were let in, says she, she would be able to get help for even less
than they pay now but would stuill be paying those people more than
they have ever made before.

Thanks for the insights. Everything we *know* is corrupted by the press.
However, as I told Max, I'm not so sure the 'cheap labor' will prove a benefit.
The West Germans felt the same way but fact is they have yet to fully recover
economically from reunification. Kick it around with your son and see what they
thing in light of the German experience.

Vito wrote:
"katy" wrote

Our oldest son is a professor of English in Pusan (Busan) and has a
Korean wife. His take is that whatever we here in the States know
about Korea is corrupted by the American press. When we have
called, concerned about something that has happened over there, he
almost always laughs and says "Why do you believe that crap on the
news? It's all propoganda." And you are correct..the average S.
Korean does want reunification. The reason, though, is that they
want the cheap labor that N. Korea would afford them. When we've
asked my daughter-in-law if they would ever consider moving back
here, she smiles and shakes her head. They could not have the
lifestyle here on a professor's salary that they do there. She has
a nanny for the kids and a full time housekeeper...if N. Koreans
were let in, says she, she would be able to get help for even less
than they pay now but would stuill be paying those people more than
they have ever made before.


Thanks for the insights. Everything we *know* is corrupted by the press.
However, as I told Max, I'm not so sure the 'cheap labor' will prove a benefit.
The West Germans felt the same way but fact is they have yet to fully recover
economically from reunification. Kick it around with your son and see what they
thing in light of the German experience.


We have...difference is that in Germany you have educated people on
both sides for the most part where in N. Korea tithe labor force
coming in is illiterate...other consideration is that the graft
situation in Korea is horrendous and there is no actual middle
class...and that want it to stay that way...

"katy" wrote in message
...

Our oldest son is a professor of English in Pusan (Busan) and has a Korean
wife. His take is that whatever we here in the States know about Korea is
corrupted by the American press. When we have called, concerned about
something that has happened over there, he almost always laughs and says
"Why do you believe that crap on the news? It's all propoganda." And you
are correct..the average S. Korean does want reunification. The reason,
though, is that they want the cheap labor that N. Korea would afford them.

That sounds logical, if cynical. Some close friends of ours are Korean,
visit Seoul often, and report that the younger generation is quite liberal
and anti-US in an ideological sense. Their interest in cheap labor is
non-existent. The big businesses, such as Samsung, Hyundae, Daewoo, etc.,
probably want the cheap labor. And I'm sure the North Koreans would love to
have the jobs and the incomes. Most of them, outside the military, are
starving and living in abject poverty.

When we've asked my daughter-in-law if they would ever consider moving
back here, she smiles and shakes her head. They could not have the
lifestyle here on a professor's salary that they do there. She has a
nanny for the kids and a full time housekeeper...if N. Koreans were let
in, says she, she would be able to get help for even less than they pay
now but would stuill be paying those people more than they have ever made
before.

I believe that completely.

Max