By Alexander Dworkowitz
From the decision to attack Iraq to the labeling of North Korea as part of “an axis of evil,” President George W. Bush’s foreign policy has drawn praises of many Americans and rebukes from many others.
In recent months, his policy has also spawned a division among the Korean-American community of Queens.
On Saturday a group of about 100 Korean men and women, most of whom are elderly, took to the streets of Flushing to protest what they labeled an “anti-American” stance of an organization of younger Korean-Americans.
The first group, called the Korean American Defenders of Freedom, has accused the second group, Nodutdol, of supporting the regime of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.
The founder of KADF, Ellen Kang of Woodside, has called for the resignation of Councilman John Liu’s (D-Flushing) legislative director, John Choe, one of the founders of Nodutdol.
Members of Nodutdol, however, have said they are a victim of a smear campaign.
The controversy focuses on the North Korean regime, the communist dictatorship that was named a member of the “axis of evil” by Bush.
Most middle-aged and elderly Korean Americans in the borough were born in South Korea. They remember the Korean War, fought by the United States and South Korea against North Korea, and quickly condemn the dictatorship, which they see as a threat to their relatives still living in South Korea.
But younger Korean Americans were not alive during the war. Many young South Koreans held protests against the United States after Bush’s “axis of evil” comment, and some called for the peaceful reunification of the two nations.
Kang, a postal worker and member of Community Board 2, said she founded KADF in March after learning about Nodutdol, which is also a new organization.
“They follow Kim Jong Il, the North Korean dictator,” she said. “They follow his regime.”
KADF has a dozen members, Kang said.
Saturday’s protest, staged on Union Street, occurred just as Nodutdol members boarded a bus to attend a separate demonstration criticizing U.S. foreign policy in Washington DC.
Kang has written to Liu, demanding that Choe leave the government post.
“As a Korean immigrant, we demand that we do not have John Choe represent us,” she said.
Choe did not return phone calls for comment.
Liu, who is Taiwanese and admitted he knew little about Nodutdol, defended his legislative director.
“Any group, however unpopular they might be, has the right to speak out,” he said. “To say that a group does not have a right to say it, that itself is anti-American.”
On their Web site, members of Nodutdol write: “Our mission is to promote the development and civil rights of the Korean-American community and to work towards the reconciliation and reunification of the Korean peninsula.”
The Web site contains a form letter, which dates back to the beginning of the year, that calls on Bush not to invade Iraq. The letter also criticizes the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan for leaving “thousand of Afghan civilians dead or injured,” condemns the “economic strangulation campaign Israel has undertaken against the Palestinian people” and demands the U.S. withdraw troops from the Korean peninsula.
The Web site also calls for a boycott of The Korea Times, which has strongly criticized their organization.
Hye-Jung Park, a member of Nodutdol, said her group wanted to see the two Koreas become one nation peacefully.
“We are just working for reunification,” she said. “We are pro-Korea, not pro-north.”
Park said her group has about 50 members.
Park, who was born in South Korea, said the Bush administration contributed to the hostilities.
“I think the whole environment is hostile to immigrants,” she said. “A lot of immigrants are doing self-censorship. It creates more division between the community. We are going back to McCarthyism.”
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 141.
