...due to death threats from angry Koreans. That and the Korean Skating Federation could not guarentee his safety. Yes, the skating World Cup is in South Korea. http://espn.go.com/oly/news/2003/1121/1667712.html He is a 2 time World Cup winner, 4 time defending US Champion and Gold & Silver medal Olympic champion.
The South Koreans get a couple of breaks in the World Cup and they whine that they don't get any respect. When one of their skaters commits a foul and gets called for it, they call it a conspiracy against them and blame the fouled athlete for it. The clan mentality of the Koreans strikes again, unfortunately.
nyanyanyana. shut up. Ohno cheated and he is a *#*#*#*#*#. Yea like a Korean is really gonna shoot him 1. there are no guns in korea 2. they are illegal Ohno is a pusssy. Koreans have forgot about it and if you think we are offended by him not coming, i am sorry. we are bitter. this couldve been the chance to settle everything. if he's scared of losing, then admit it. Scared of death threats - the entire south korean population are laughing at your japanese-american appolo anton ohno.
koreans at their finest and to think we protect their sorry asses from becoming a communist state every single day. what the hell, we should just let them live in poverty and darkness under and iron-fisted rule, then they might learn to get some class...
Please. You are probably just the average joe who watches Fox Sportsnet and gets excited about the Kansas City Chiefs going on a 7 - 1 run. You have no idea of how the world goes around but you think you do because you watch the CNN headline news. You are spoon-fed of what want to believe in and since you guys have a chimpanzee for a president, that's not so hard to believe. You always think about the conservatives vs liberalists. You might also think that Bush is an idiot but since you are an American you will not admit that. But since I've already said this you might admit it because you probably wouldn't want to lose face to an average Korean joe. You think you protect us but by what means? Are you in the military? My dad is. He wears that insignia on his right pocket that says U.S Army every day - and like 40K other troops in Korea, they are just doing their job. They don't give a flying FCUK about communism or George W. Bush and neither do you. You think you have all sorts of rights and freedom but in reality - and you don;t want to admit this - the U.S. is so *#*#*#*#ing huge that you have no grasp of what reality is. The world doesn't revolve around the United States of America and Apollo Anton Ohno cheated. And please, you are not protecting Korea from communism - you are just protecting yourselves. READ THE GODDAMN PAPERS AND THINK FOR YOURSELF YOU SICK *#*#*#*#.
South Korea proved that they are still a third-world sewer when they had the olympics. They had Korean gangsters fixing fights involving Koreans, by threatening judges with death. Ohno is right to stay away from that outhouse of a country. We should withdraw our troops and let them fight the northern barkeaters. They would lose and they would get to be ruled by Kim Jong-Il, which they richly deserve.
awwwww are you sad because we're not sucking your dick anymore? Oh and remember if you guys withdraw, that will close 40K job opprotunites in the future for servicemen. we wouldn't that to happen would we?? We should all go ask Dick Cheney. The U.S. doesnt have the guts to pull the troops out. Talk is cheap.
Without taking sides in this pissing match, I should point out that US presence along the DMZ is more or less cosmetic and at best, symbolic. It tells the South Koreans that the US is on their side and it shows China and North Korea that South Korea won't do anything rash, in turn preventing China and N. Korea from doing anything rash themselves.
But it's been 12 years since there was a Soviet Union. Containment of communism has no more significance. I don't see any reason to have troops there. Who cares if they fall to the northern barbarians? It's not like we would miss those Hyundais. Let them recede back to the dark ages with their brothers in the north. A little bark-eating might do them some good, and it's not much worse than kimchi anyway.
US manufacturers would still miss South Korea's educated but still relatively cheap labor. Plus, it's not just South Korea that the US is concerned about - the stability that East Asia enjoys right now is quite fragile and the US is part of the puzzle. Any fighting between East Asian nations will quickly spread around the region and beyond, and that's not good for the United States' economic interests - which has always been the reason for American presence in the region.
Of course not. They'll use kung-fu and samurai swords. You really are an idiot if you think that because guns are illegal in South Korea someone can't be killed and the numerous death threats he's received shouldn't be taken seriously. You're probably one of the people who wrote death threats to him.
Ummmm. Here in Asia, we still have a communist threat. North Korea and China. If you lived in Taiwan, you would know just how much of a threat the ChiComs and KorComs are. If younger Koreans are so blinded by their love of North Korea, sorry for them. However, elderly Koreans remember how the US came to save their butts back in the 50s. Seoul, Tokyo, Manila and Taipei should all work together and with Washington to contain the communist menace that still exists in Asia!
i still don't understand what all the fuss is about. i mean, we are talking about short track speed skating, for crying out loud!!! geez. i think the koreans should call it even after all the calls that went their way in the world cup.
Yeah, but you're missing the larger point, that the US benefits a great deal from stability in East Asia, and a minute presence in Korea goes a long way towards securing that stability. You know what I meant, silly. Yes, the US military presence is more than cosmetic in that they do serve a purpose, but if a war broke out between North and South Korea tomorrow, the US would not have an effect on the outcome.
Not to justify death threats or the continued bitching about the Winter Olympics, I can understand the Korean people's sensitivity. For a relatively small country like Korea, success in the international stage, even in minor Winter Olympic sports, means a great deal. Then you add the perception, right or wrong, that everything about the Winter Games were tilted in the Americans' favor, from the media coverage to the officiating to the new events seemingly added to pad the US medal count. And then you add Korea's history of being under constant influence or threat of invasion from China and Japan. When you add all the above together, it's not surprising that some people end up with a supersized chip on their shoulder, and a death threat doesn't seem so out of this world.
I must agree with you. As a Korean I am shocked at this "love of North Korea" thing. I remember even when I was 12 (and I'm only 22) that the North Koreans made threats on turning Seoul into a sea of fire and so on and so forth. The fact that we have similiar genes or something is of little importance. They're still our enemy and this whole being soft on North Korea is a silly illusion that former president Kim Dae-jung threw over the South Korean population in his "sunshine" policy that turned out to be a butt kissing operation of the highest caliber. It's important not to have a war, but to throw so much praise and support a murderer like Kim Jong-il, especially when we're not supporting him to fight another bigger enemy, is simply inexcusable. I bet the North Koreans don't love us. They've probably been educated to rid the peninsular of the mercenaries of the Yankees. I cannot believe how the present generation's memory of the North Koreans is so short. At least I haven't forgotten.
Is anyone here a speed skating expert? Becuase I wouldn't comment on the incident because I don't know the first thing about speed skating. And I think it is very unfair if we are judging the situation without even knowing the rules of Speed Skating. Sometimes the rules aren't as straight forward as you think. As a former referee I know how difficult some football decisions are, and there are plenty of people who are clueless about the laws of football who try to draw conclusions etc. Obviously they get it all wrong. I saw so much of that during the World Cup it made me sick. There are two types of football writers: analysists and the entertainers. I hate the latter as they are the ones with little or hardly any football knowledge and only write stories that will sell.
Going a bit too far there don't you think? Every country's got it's poor points. And we're not the only country with gangsters. Actually if the North Koreans showed up tomorrow to try to take over, we'll kick their asses back into Mongolia. As for the US being there, it'll matter who governs the US. If the US ends up with a Bill Clinton style leader, after 1 week of fighting when some US soldiers are killed, he'll probably pull his troops out and "Koreanize" the conflict, throwing chaos into the war strategy. Stay if you want, leave if you want. Except if you leave we'll have to arm ourselves with nukes because of China.
Hardly. India's got a highly educated and even cheaper labor force that even speaks English. lol. Truth is, for us Koreans we don't have a lot going for us. The fact that we've reached the level we're in now is a miracle.
As a former ref I have to disagree with a lot of the arguments made during the world cup. A lot of bad calls went against South Korea too. In fact, the refereeing in the Korea-Italy match was really at a decent standard. It's just that Italy made a HUGE fuss about it, and people not used to Italy's antics (A LOT apparantly) bought it like candy. Everyone seems to have forgotten that Spain could have been down to 10 men in the first half when de Pedro did a two footed back tackle on Song Jung-guk getting the player and totally missing the ball. Not to mention Romero's studs up tackle which left Kim Nam-il injured for over a month. Were the Italians onside once or twice in the Korea match but were called offside? Yes. They were onside it seems but it was not "CLEARLY onside" as most of the press were saying. Those were incredibly hard calls to make, and are mistaken on a regular basis in top competition everywhere. Also, in the Korea vs Turkey 3/4th place match, South Korea too scored an onside goal that was ruled offside because it was also a tough call to make. The two players in offsides position at the time were not interfereing with play, and therefore the goal should have counted, which would have made the game 3-2 or 2-2 at the time before half time.
skip, you honestly think that if north korea attacked south korea our military would not get involved? i am confused as to what you are saying here, help me out... we have over 40,000 troops at the DMZ and would have to bet that should a war break out between the two countries our military men and women would be involved...and not only involved, but i think they would have a profound impact on the result. from friends and family who have served over in the DMZ they say the US military is the only thing the north koreans are worried about, that the fear of the south korean military doesn't exist b/c they are a non-factor <poorly eqipped and organized bunch... enough about politics...
US Air power will definately play a huge role. Their stealth fighters will knock out their anti-aircraft defences in the first day of the war and will give the Koreans and Americans air superiority very early on. After that in the following week, every structure and every North Korean unit of significance will get a severe pounding, and this will play a huge role. Maybe the US ground troops won't play a huge role, but air power definately will.