“Anti-Americanism in Democratizing South Korea”

According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, 84 percent of South Koreans today hold a favorable attitude toward the United States. However, between 1999 and 2002, a wave of anti-Americanism swept through Korean society. During that period, hundreds of thousands of Koreans took to the streets at various times to protest against their closest foreign ally. While many attribute this anger toward the United States to specific incidents, a deeper national narrative underlies this anti-American sentiment. 

On November 6, the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at Brookings hosted David Straub to discuss his new book, “Anti-Americanism in Democratizing South Korea” (Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, 2015), in which he explores  the attitudes of Koreans toward the United States. Straub served as head of the political section at the U.S. embassy in Seoul from 1999 to 2002, during the protests against the U.S. Brookings senior fellow Michael O’Hanlon provided introductory remarks and Andrew Yeo of Catholic University commented on the presentation and moderated the discussion.