Students at San Francisco State University are having mixed reactions after the South Korean Air Force dropped eight 500-pound bombs on the village of Pocheon by accident, after using incorrect coordinates, during a joint live fire exercise with the U.S. military on March 6. The resulting blast injured 15 people and destroyed several buildings.
Illwoo Choi, an exchange student from South Korea, was shocked to learn about it and found it hard to believe that such an accident could happen in a civilian area.
“I was relieved that there were no casualties,” Choi said. “But I felt sorry for the anxiety and distress of the affected residents.”
However, Choi still feels that the U.S. presence in South Korea plays a vital role in the nation’s safety and defense.
“I believe military exercises are essential for national security,” Choi said. “However, thorough prevention and preparation against any accidents that may occur during the process are essential. If the reason why the U.S. military conducts training in Korea is to secure the pIace, I believe that more careful and thorough measures are needed to ensure that the safety and life of the Korean people are not violated in the process.”
In a 2022 poll conducted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, 37.3% of South Koreans responded that the first thing that came to mind when they saw “United States” was “strong military.” Support for the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance was exceptionally high, remaining at or above 91.9% since 2012. Furthermore, the poll stated that South Koreans “showed high affinity for the United States.”
Gregory Furey is a nutrition and dietetics student who was deployed in South Korea in 2018 and 2019 during his service in the U.S. Marine Corps. Furey agreed with Choi that a continued U.S. presence in the ROK is an overall good, but he felt that it did not need to be as pervasive as it currently is.
“I would say I understand why people don’t want the U.S. there,” Furey said. “I’ve seen how ridiculous some people can be when they go to another country in the way they act. Or letting our rules infiltrate their way of life. I don’t think that’s a good thing. I think they should live the way that they live, and then maybe we can just be at the DMZ, and that’s it.”
Graduate student Alexandra Bartas, who identifies as Korean-American, felt angry initially but not surprised that the bombing occurred.
“This is just a continuation of the same kind of thing the U.S. has been doing to Korea ever since the Korean War in 1950,” Bartas said.
Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, the U.S. has had a strong military presence in South Korea, with 73 bases and 28,500 troops currently in the country.
“The U.S. comes, it does these military procedures to forward its own geopolitical interests with no regard for what’s happening to the Korean people and the effects that it has on just the regular Korean people that are going about their daily lives,” Bartas said.
A spokesperson for the SFSU chapter of Resist U.S.-Led War, who only wanted to be identified as Vero, agreed.
“The U.S. overlooks the effects that actually happened through these, like the effects that happen to the local people,” Vero said.
Vero said that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed implementation of martial law in December 2024 is a situation the U.S. has used to increase militarization in the region.
“They don’t care about the people’s interests,” Vero said. “They only care about profiting off of these accidents that are happening. They’re profiting off of war. They’re profiting off of genocide.”
Vero said that operations like this serve only to terrorize the local populace, while also flaunting the U.S.’s military might for both its allies and its enemies.
“As a Korean national living in the United States, I once again realize the sense of distance from Korea whenever such an incident occurs,” Choi said. “Through this accident, I felt again how important it is to balance security and safety, and I was more worried about the safety of my family and acquaintances in Korea. I hope the Korean government and the military will come up with thorough measures to prevent this from happening again.”
Gregory McCulloh is a contributor to Golden Gate Xpress. He studies English at San Francisco State University, where he is currently in his fourth year.
