Open Letter to President Bush and the U.S. Congress

July 24, 2008

Open Letter to President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress:

General Douglas MacArthur was a friend both to the Japanese and the Korean people. He almost single-handedly changed Japan from top down and bottom up into a modern democratic country, and saved Korea at the brink of total collapse in 1950. Japan in such a way from the imperial military, and Korea, working with S. Koreans from the hell of Father and Son Kim's. He should have been allowed to get rid of Kim Il-sung and stop the Chinese during the Korean War. It is sad that the Korean peninsula still remains a headache to the Americans and the world, but the U.S. cannot forsake its ally she was responsible for creating, saving, and making the 12th world economy. THE U.S. CANNOT FORSAKE KOREA.

I received a copy of the letter yesterday from my Japanese NGO friends regarding President Bush’s new appeasement policy toward N. Korea and Kim Jong-il. North Korea is about to be delisted from the list of terror-sponsoring nations. President George W. Bush met with Ms. Sakie Yokoda in April 2006, along with the NK defectors, the Kim Han-mee family and Mr. Kim Seong-min. Mr. Bush stated at the time that it was the most heartbreaking meeting at the Oval Office ever. What happened since then? Did Kim Jong-il dismantle the infamous death camps? Did Kim Jong-il stop the public executions in NK? Did he stop torturing and killing the refugees repatriated by the Chinese? Did he send back all the S. Koreans and Japanese he kidnapped during and after the Korean War? None of the above happened. Instead, he tested his nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. He broke his promises over and over that he would dismantle his nuclear weapons. Politicians here in the U.S. and in S. Korea say things take time and these things should be taken care of diplomatically between the big shots. How about the people? Those who are starving everyday, and those families whose family members were kidnapped? They have to believe the politicians and wait forever? Everyday is a torture to them!

You do not have to start a war with Kim Jong-il, but you should at least stand with the oppressed people. You should give them hope. Delisting Kim Jong-il and N. Korea from the terror sponsoring nations is not what you can do for those people. Just think! Can you let Kim Jong-il become a normal leader of a nation if your own brother or sister, or your own child is abducted suddenly? Mr. Bush, you said you were with the oppressed people for freedom and human rights. Where do you stand now? The oppressed people are now suddenly not oppressed? Mrs. Sakie Yokoda now suddenly has rejoined with her daughter, Megumi? How can you let Kim Jong-il off the hook? For the sake of 300 million Americans? To protect them from Kim Jong-il’s nuclear attack? Come on, Mr. President! North Koreans and Japanese abductee families are also people, not just Americans! They suffer everyday. Kim Jong-il will never use his nuclear weapons! He knows it will be the end of him and his regime.

I used to support you and respect you, because I thought you had a heart for these oppressed people, my people, N. Koreans. What has happened since the charade of 6-party talk changed my opinion completely. You are just a politician. You did not mean what you said when you met Ms. Sakie Yokoda and the NK defectors. It was a huge show. It hurts me to say this to you. The only thing you can do to change my mind, mind you, it does not matter what I think, but it matters what the NK people and the Japanese abductee families think of you, is to change your mind on delisting NK from the list of terror-sponsoring nations. It is only a start. We have a long way to go before we can say we are safe from the likes of Iran, Syria, and N. Korea. However, delising NK from the list is not a step toward safety. It is a quick step toward total disaster. You wait and see, if Kim Jong-il changes. He will never change. He is an evil. Please do not take Kim Jong-il off the list of terror-sponsoring nations.

Sincerely,


Sin-U Nam, AIA
Korean-American Architect
NK Human Rights Activist
Life time member of Lincoln Forum