I got a lot of flak for suggesting that large groups of Korean folks caught up screaming and yelling in nationalist fervor made me nervous. Well, some folks were in the wrong place at the wrong time and sporting the wrong color skin. Their nationality actually wasn't even "American," but that didn't stop the "protesters" from trying to beat them up.
But I'm just paranoid, right?
Anyway, I've been in the middle of anti-American crowds taking pictures, especially in late 2002 and early 2003. But I've been getting the distinct feeling that the either such crowds are getting more hostile, or the crazies are simply getting crazier. Either way, I've been staying away from crowds overcome with fervent nationalism. As I simply said – it makes me nervous. People seem to be more ready to start trouble these days.
I used to say to my friends when they'd ask me back in 2002-2003, "I wouldn't worry about myself, even during the most anti-American of protests. I think most of these people know how to distinguish the person from the issue."
That's not what I believe anymore, and I've been saying it for some time now.
If you don't believe me, why don't you ask the Swiss guy named Walter (see link above), who nearly got a mob beat-down when he was unlucky enough to come across some hardcore protesters. When asked if he was American, he apparently tried to just walk away. Maybe he should have just told him he was Swiss? No, no. I'm sure the rational young man who wanted to give him a knuckle sandwich for looking like a member of the nationality he had a beef with (American) would have had no negative regard for Walter being Swiss, even given how salty people were after the Korea-Switzerland game.
Not at all.
Because sports nationalism is meaningless, harmless, good, clean fun, right? Nobody ever gets hurt because of that. It's just a love of the sport, right? Koreans really only love soccer, right?
How many Koreans have you seen out and about, or up and awake, watching the remainder of the soccer matches since the Korean team got eliminated? Hmm.
Yeah, I guess everyone's right. It's "just" sports, right? And the FTA is really nothing more than "just" a little piece of paper, too, I guess.
I pose this scenario again: if somehow both the US and Korean teams could actually play their way to the second round and square off against one another, and the Korean team lost – if you were a foreign body in Kwanghwamun, would you feel safe? And if you really want to push it – would you root for the American team as an American?
Given the fact that there was even a report (sorry, can't find the article anymore) of Korean soccer fans people assaulting other Korean people for apparently not cheering hard enough, I really wonder if you could actually say "yes" to the previous two questions, at least with a straight face.