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South Korea

Book of Ron Paul


South Korea
State Of The Republic
28 January 1998    1998 Ron Paul 2:61
The message is this: The politicians will never limit spending, but, eventually, the market will. It has already done so in Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.

South Korea
Congress Relinquishing The Power To Wage War
2 February 1999    1999 Ron Paul 4:70
Because of the significance of the dollar to the world economy, our inflation and the dollar-generated bubble is much more dangerous than single currency inflation such as Mexico, Brazil, South Korea, Japan and others. The significance of these inflations, however, cannot be dismissed.

South Korea
CHALLENGE TO AMERICA: A CURRENT ASSESSMENT OF OUR REPUBLIC —
February 07, 2001    2001 Ron Paul 7:104
It’s time we look at Korea and ask why we have to broker, with the use of American dollars and American soldiers, the final settlement between North and South Korea.

South Korea
POTENTIAL FOR WAR
February 08, 2001    2001 Ron Paul 10:37
World War II has been over for 55 years. It is time we look at Korea and ask why we have to broker, with the use of American dollars and American soldiers, the final settlement between North and South Korea. Taiwan and China are now trading and investing in each other’s country. Travel restrictions have been recently liberalized. It is time for us to let the two of them settle their border dispute.

South Korea
A New China Policy
April 25, 2001    2001 Ron Paul 25:22
Today, it looks like there’s a much better chance of North and South Korea getting together and solving their dispute than was the case in the 1950s, when we sent hundreds of thousands of troops and millions of bombs to resolve the conflict, which was unsuccessful.

South Korea
U.S. Intervention In South Korea
25 April 2001    2001 Ron Paul 26:2
SOUTH KOREA FEARS BUSH TEAM IS HINDERING DETENTE WITH NORTH (By Jay Solomon)

South Korea
U.S. Intervention In South Korea
25 April 2001    2001 Ron Paul 26:3
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — Amid heightened tension between the U.S. and China over the downing of an American spy plane, frustration is mounting inside President Kim Dae Jung’s government that President Bush’s Asia policies are undercutting ties between North and South Korea.

South Korea
U.S. Intervention In South Korea
25 April 2001    2001 Ron Paul 26:5
Fueling this unease among some in Mr. Kim’s government is their belief that the Bush administration views peace on the Korean Peninsula as working against its principal security interests. Central to this is Mr. Bush’s plans to build a national missiledefense shield, for which North Korea’s missile program is a primary justification. U.S. military and intelligence officials have played up in recent weeks both the military and nuclear threats posed by North Korea’s military, re-emphasizing the Pentagon’s need to maintain 37,000 troops in South Korea.

South Korea
U.S. Intervention In South Korea
25 April 2001    2001 Ron Paul 26:7
The South Korean Foreign Ministry, while officially maintaining that it is too early to judge Mr. Bush’s policy vis-a-vis North Korea, also is expressing skittishness toward Washington’s intentions. Spokesman Kim Euy Taek says the ministry hopes “the Bush administration will rethink its skepticism” toward North Korea after completing its review of the Clinton team’s policies toward Pyongyang.

South Korea
U.S. Intervention In South Korea
25 April 2001    2001 Ron Paul 26:9
Just three months ago, expectations were high that a peace pact could be signed between allies South Korea and the U.S. and North Korea. Then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright had held an unprecedented meeting with North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong II, after the North sent a senior envoy to Washington. President Clinton was seriously considering a deal in January where North Korea would scrap some weapons programs in exchange for financial aid.

South Korea
U.S. Intervention In South Korea
25 April 2001    2001 Ron Paul 26:11
This rebuke has fueled a marked deterioration in North-South relations. Last month, Pyongyang halted peace talks with the South, a sporting exchange has been cancelled, and Kim Jong II’s proposed trip to South Korea during the first half of the year has been delayed to the second half — at the earliest.

South Korea
The Case For Defending America
24 January 2002    2002 Ron Paul 1:66
After the demise of our nemesis, the Soviet Union, many believed that we could safely withdraw from some of our worldwide commitments. It was hoped we would start minding our own business, save some money, and reduce the threat to our military personnel. But the opposite has happened. Without any international competition for superpower status, our commitments have grown and spread so that today we provide better military protection to Taiwan and South Korea and Saudi Arabia than we do for New York and Washington.

South Korea
Unintended Consequences
November 14, 2002    2002 Ron Paul 102:10
In the chaos that may erupt, several countries might see an opportunity to move on their neighbors. Already we have been warned that cooperation from Russia means no American criticism or resistance to its moves in Georgia or Chechnya. China could attack Taiwan. North Korea could renew its struggle against South Korea. India may see this as an opportunity to settle the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan- with the real risk of nuclear war breaking out. It seems the obsession about Iraq’s improbable possession of nuclear weapons far exceeds the more realistic possibility that our pre-emptive strike against Iraq may precipitate a nuclear exchange between these two countries, or even a first strike with nuclear weapons by Israel against Iraq.

South Korea
Republic Versus Democracy
29 January 2003    2003 Ron Paul 6:60
Excessive meddling in the internal affairs of other nations, and involving ourselves in every conflict around the globe has not endeared the United States to the oppressed of the world. The Japanese are tired of us, the South Koreans are tired of us, the Europeans are tired of us, the Central Americans are tired of us, the Filipinos are tired of us, and, above all, the Arab Muslims are tired of us. Angry and frustrated by our persistent bullying, and disgusted with having their own government bought and controlled by the United States, joining a radical Islamic movement was a natural and predictable consequence for Muslims.

South Korea
Introducing United States Korea Normalization Resolution Of 2003
13 February 2003    2003 Ron Paul 23:2
Sixty years ago American troops fought in a United Nations “police action” on the Korean Peninsula. More than 50,000 Americans lost their lives. Sixty years later, some 37,000 U.S. troops remain in South Korea, facing a North Korean army of nearly a million persons. After 60 years, we can no longer afford this commitment.

South Korea
Introducing United States Korea Normalization Resolution Of 2003
13 February 2003    2003 Ron Paul 23:3
The U.S. defense guarantee of South Korea costs more than $3 billion per year in direct costs and approximately $12 billion per year in total costs. Total U.S. aid to South Korea has exceeded $14 billion since the war.

South Korea
Introducing United States Korea Normalization Resolution Of 2003
13 February 2003    2003 Ron Paul 23:4
But South Korea of today is not the Korea of 1950. Today’s South Korea is a modem, industrialized, economic powerhouse; it has a gross domestic product more than 40 times that of communist North Korea. It has a military more than 700,000 persons strong. Nor is it at all clear that the continued U.S. military presence is necessary — or desired.

South Korea
Introducing United States Korea Normalization Resolution Of 2003
13 February 2003    2003 Ron Paul 23:5
Not long ago, incoming South Korean President Roh Moo-huyn, recognizing that the current tension is primarily between the United States and North Korea, actually offered to serve as a mediator between the two countries. It is an astonishing move considering that it is the United States that provides South Korea a security guarantee against the North. Additionally, it is becoming more obvious every day that with the man on the South Korean street, the United States military presence in their country is not desired and in fact viewed as a threat.

South Korea
Introducing United States Korea Normalization Resolution Of 2003
13 February 2003    2003 Ron Paul 23:6
We cannot afford to continue guaranteeing South Korea’s borders when we cannot defend our own borders and when our military is stretched to the breaking point. We cannot continue subsidizing South Korea’s military when it is clear that South Korea has the wherewithal to pay its own way. We cannot afford to keep our troops in South Korea when it is increasingly clear that they are actually having a destabilizing effect and may be hindering a North-South rapprochement.

South Korea
Introducing United States Korea Normalization Resolution Of 2003
13 February 2003    2003 Ron Paul 23:7
That is why I am introducing the United States-Korea Normalization Resolution, which expresses the sense of Congress that, 60 years after the Korean War, the U.S. security guarantee to South Korea should end, as should the stationing of American troops in South Korea.

South Korea
Another United Nations War
25 February 2003    2003 Ron Paul 24:3
Our 58 years in Korea have seen 33,000 lives lost, 100,000 casualties and over $1 trillion in today’s dollars spent. Korea is the most outrageous example of our fighting a U.N. war without a declaration from the U.S. Congress. And where are we today? On the verge of a nuclear confrontation with a North Korean regime nearly out of control. And to compound the irony, the South Koreans are intervening in hopes of diminishing the tensions that exist between the United States and North Korea.

South Korea
Stay out of Liberia!
24 July 2003    2003 Ron Paul 90:4
Before we commit our troops to yet another foreign intervention, Congress must at the very least consider the implications of further committing our already seriously overextended military. According to recent press reporting, of the 33 brigades that make up the entirety of the US Army’s active duty combat forces, all but just three brigades are either currently engaged in Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea; are committed to other missions; or are reconstituting. This suggests that the US military is in serious danger of becoming over-extended.

South Korea
Big-Government Solutions Don’t Work
7 september 2006    2006 Ron Paul 74:37
Though tens of millions of deaths are associated with these wars, it seems we haven’t learned a thing. We went into Korea by direction of the United Nations, not a Congressional declaration of war, to unify Korea. Yet that war ensured that Korea remained divided to this day. Our troops are still there. South Korea today is much more willing to reconcile differences with North Korea, and yet we obstruct such efforts. It doesn’t make much sense.

Texas Straight Talk


South Korea
- President opts to use taxpayer fund to bailout wealthy investors
29 December 1997    Texas Straight Talk 29 December 1997 verse 4 ... Cached
Using the old reliable excuse that it was in the interest of "national security," President Clinton last week opted to obligate the money of the American taxpayers to bailout the troubled South Korean economy and the legions of wealthy investors who had made a mistake in sinking their cash into a bad market.

South Korea
- President opts to use taxpayer fund to bailout wealthy investors
29 December 1997    Texas Straight Talk 29 December 1997 verse 7 ... Cached
Further, the same section of the Constitution requires that Congress allocate taxpayer funds for expenditure, not the President, the Secretary of the Treasury or the Prime Minister of South Korea.

South Korea
- President opts to use taxpayer fund to bailout wealthy investors
29 December 1997    Texas Straight Talk 29 December 1997 verse 11 ... Cached
Of course, Mexico and South Korea do have something special which makes their case easier for the politically minded controllers of the taxpayer purse-strings. Both countries had a lot of American investors wanting to cash in on lucrative deals abroad with the possibility of big payoffs. Of course, as anyone who invests knows, the bigger the potential payoff, the bigger the risk. But many investors today are eager to embrace the philosophy of free-market economics when it comes to making money and keeping their profits, but at the first sign of those investments going sour, they want the government to socialize their losses at the expense of the taxpayers.

South Korea
U.S. Armed Forces Should Protect American Soil
22 October 2001    Texas Straight Talk 22 October 2001 verse 4 ... Cached
The sober reality is that on September 11th millions of foreigners abroad were better protected by American armed forces than were our own citizens at home. In fact, on that fateful morning we had tens of thousands of soldiers and billions of dollars in weapons deployed worldwide- all standing by helplessly while our citizens were savagely attacked in New York and Washington. It is beyond frustrating to consider that there are literally dozens of places around the globe where an unauthorized commercial jet straying off course would have been confronted by American fighters, yet the New York skyline and even the Pentagon were left almost completely unprotected. The American people have a right to know, for example, why the Iraq-Kuwait border, the DMZ between North and South Korea, and the skies over Serbia were better defended that morning than our own cities, borders, and skies.

South Korea
Waning Prospects for Peace in 2003?
30 December 2002    Texas Straight Talk 30 December 2002 verse 6 ... Cached
How tragic that after 50 years of Korean occupation by American troops, our citizens feel more threatened by that nation than ever. Thousands of Americans lost their lives in the Korean war, and thousands more have risked their lives serving in the desolate DMZ that separates North and South Korea. Yet all we can show for half a century of military and political entanglement in Korea is today’s heightened nuclear tensions. Even the South Koreans, whose very lives our soldiers protect, have grown weary of American demonization of the North, showing a desire for more openness and negotiations between the two countries. In fact, the recently elected South Korean president won votes by displaying some anti-American sentiment.

South Korea
Can We Afford to Occupy Iraq?
01 September 2003    Texas Straight Talk 01 September 2003 verse 6 ... Cached
The Korean conflict should serve as a cautionary tale against the open-ended military occupation of any region. Human tragedy aside, we have spent half a century and more than one trillion of today’s dollars in Korea. What do we have to show for it? North Korea is a belligerent adversary armed with nuclear technology, while South Korea is at best ambivalent about our role as their protector. The stalemate stretches on with no end in sight, while the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the brave men who fought in Korea continue to serve there. Although the situation in Iraq is different, the lesson learned in Korea is clear. We must not allow our nation to become entangled in another endless, intractable, overseas conflict. We literally cannot afford to have the occupation of Iraq stretch on for years.

South Korea
Inflation and War Finance
29 January 2007    Texas Straight Talk 29 January 2007 verse 9 ... Cached
For perspective, consider our ongoing military commitment in Korea. In Korea alone, U.S. taxpayers have spent $1 trillion in today’s dollars over 55 years. What do we have to show for it? North Korea is a belligerent adversary armed with nuclear weapons, while South Korea is at best ambivalent about our role as their protector. The stalemate stretches on with no end in sight, as the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the men who fought in Korea give little thought to what was gained or lost. The Korean conflict should serve as a cautionary tale against the open-ended military occupation of any region.

South Korea
The Economy: Another Casualty of War
18 May 2008    Texas Straight Talk 18 May 2008 verse 5 ... Cached
The bottom line is that our dollar is falling, the economy is in rough shape, and government spending is wildly out of control. Congress argues over relatively minor details, instead of dramatically changing our flawed foreign policy. We need to bring our troops home, not only from Iraq and Afghanistan , but from South Korea , Germany , and the other 138 countries where we have troops stationed. Our foreign policy of interventionism is not only offensive to others, inviting further terrorist attacks, but it is ruining our economy as we tax, borrow and print the money to pay the bills of our empire. The economy and ultimately the American people suffer because Washington is refusing to adopt more sensible and constitutional policies.

Texas Straight Talk from 20 December 1996 to 23 June 2008 (573 editions) are included in this Concordance. Texas Straight Talk after 23 June 2008 is in blog form on Rep. Paul’s Congressional website and is not included in this Concordance.

Remember, not everything in the concordance is Ron Paul’s words. Some things he quoted, and he added some newspaper and magazine articles to the Congressional Record. Check the original speech to see.



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