A statue of U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur overlooking the site of the amphibious landing that turned the tide of the Korean War may be relocated because MacArthur is a foreigner, an official said Tuesday.
A statue of a Korean independence fighter may be put in MacArthur's place, the official said."Some people now feel that a statue of a foreigner in Inchon's foremost park is inappropriate and shows a lack of pride," said the city official, who declined to be identified.
Wednesday is the 43rd anniversary of the 1950 Inchon landing, the largest and one of the most famous landings in American military history.
MacArthur proposed landing troops at the western port against the advice of most of the military establishment. He saw it as a way to decisively break the stalemate and push back troops that had overrun most of the peninsula.
Some 13,000 Marines went ashore at a cost of 174 casualties. Within six days, 50,000 American troops were marching toward Seoul.
The 20-foot bronze statue shows MacArthur with his left hand on his hip and his right hand holding binoculars as he gazes seaward.
The site commands the best view from land of Wolmi Island, the first target of the amphibious operation, and the Flying Fish Channel, the deep-water channel warships had to navigate at high tide.
Those favoring relocation want the statue moved to the Inchon Landing Memorial Hall, built in 1983 in Inchon as a museum.
"Such a relocation . . . would certainly be reflected in the eyes of the people all over the world as an act of ingratitude and betrayal," warned writer Kim Byong-kuk in Tuesday's Korea Times, a national English language daily.
The proposal to move the statue comes during a period of resurgent nationalism in a country where half the 44 million citizens are under age 50, too young to recall the role of the United States and 15 other nations that fought on the side of South Korea during the 1950-53 war.
MacArthur was relieved of command in April 1951. A peace treaty has never been signed.