Speaking of, “causing the national division of Korea,” I wonder if Kim Won-woong ever heard of China, the USSR, or Kim Il-sung. Russia, uninvolved in the Pacific war, occupied the northern half of Korea when it was the U.S. that defeated Japan – could Russia perhaps have some blame there? And it seems to me that the last person to reunify Korea was in fact MacArthur, and that China’s intervention ensured the division.

It should be noted that some in the GNP did not agree with Kim Won-woong dong-ji (honorific form of ‘comrade’).

From the Dong-A Ilbo, ‘Lawmakers Dispute History at Korean Embassy Inspection in Washington:’

A dispute over history took place at the annual audit and inspection session at the Korean Embassy in Washington D.C. on September 29… Representative Kim Won-woong of the [Uri Party] triggered a dispute when he said, “When we look back on the last 50 years of history alone, it would be fair to say that the judgment upon MacArthur can be made both in positive and negative ways. Revisiting the past 100 years of history, however, the United States should apologize, though belatedly, for the Katsura-Taft Agreement that brought about colonization of the Korean Peninsula… general’s mistakes included: causing the national division of Korea…” [emphasis added]

And from the Chosun Ilbo, ‘Lawmakers Lock Horns Over Taft-Katsura Treaty:’

Controversy over attempts to topple a statue of U.S. general Douglas MacArthur in Incheon on Thursday saw lawmakers engage in a heated historical debate over a U.S.-Japanese agreement many believe ended Korea’s independence 100 years ago. The immediate occasion was Thursday’s parliamentary audit of the Korean Embassy in the U.S.

Ruling Uri Party Rep. Kim Won-wung said… “The source of Korea’s modern misfortunes is the U.S-Japan treaty sealed on July 29, 1905, [the secret Taft Katsura Agreement] which acknowledged Japan’s control of the Korean Peninsula…” [emphasis added]

When it comes to Korea’s misfortunes, the culture of blame is pervasive, to the point that the primary liberator is demonized, at least among revisionists, and most of Korean academia. There is a lot to love about Korea; the blame culture is not in that group.