Sidney Hook and Thirties America: From Self to Society

Abstract

In his 1985 letters to Kim Dae Jung and Kim Young Sam, then cochairmen of Council for the Promotion of Democracy in Korea, Sidney Hook expressed his dissatisfaction with their refusal to condemn the student occupation of the USIS building. He disapproved of the way in which the students showed their dissent, invading the premises of the United States. American soldiers were stationed in Korea, Hook maintained, to protect South Korea from the totalitarian North Korea where absolutely no dissent of any kind is permitted. He also claimed that "it is not true that American troops are in Korea primarily to serve American security interests," and warned the two leaders not to take lightly the growing feeling among Americans that the U.S. should withdraw its troops from Korea if more anti-American demonstrations were to occur.!) Once American troops are withdrawn, they will not return. As soon as the U.S. forces depart, he added, Kim Il Sung will invade South Korea.