Anti-Americanism is growing at a startling rate in South Korea, potentially escalating into a serious problem that could jeopardize the future of the U.S.-Korean alliance. Anti-American sentiments have now spread into almost all strata of Korean society, ranging from the policymaking elite in the government and the intellectuals to members of the middle class and the younger generation. Beyond its overall increase, the sources of anti-Americanism have become more complex and diverse. Unless Washington and Seoul work together on a course of action to counter this trend, these popular Korean attitudes could become a critical wildcard harming the future of the U.S.-Korean relationship.

Anti-Americanism is growing at a startling rate in South Korea, potentially escalating into a serious problem that could jeopardize the future of the U.S.-Korean alliance.

An interesting look at the sources of Anti-American feelings in South Korea. Essentially, South Korea doesn't feel that it is respected by Americans. It is right. In this case, disrespect will ultimately cost the Americans a lot.

I think that the conclusions in this article are a little one sided. Americans could benefit from a better understanding of South Korea, too. I think many Americans mistake a number of Korean products as being Japaneese (Ask a random friend what country Samsung is from). Furthermore, products that have been specifically marketed as Korean have been low end products like Kia cars. Americans tend to respect countries that produce technology that they preceive as being superior in some ways to domestic counterparts. If there was an effort to illustrate some of the high end, high quality consumer products that Americans use that come from South Korea this would likely raise South Korea's profile in this country. This would make racial slurs and similar banter on television a lot less popular.

I'll also add that this article has the undertones of strategic psy-ops and is interesting from that perspective as well.