INCHEON (South Korea): US General Douglas MacArthur was once revered in South Korea as a war hero who repelled an invasion by North Korean troops half a century ago.

The late US general’s glory, however, is fading among young South Koreans who have no personal experience of the Korean War which left some 34,000 US soldiers dead.

MacArthur, who served as commander-in-chief of a 16-nation UN force during the early days of the 1950-53 war, led the daring Incheon landing that turned the tide of the three-year conflict.

The operation on September 15, 1950 helped the UN forces recapture most of South Korea from the communist North and advance close to China before being pushed southward by Chinese troops.

Four years after the war, South Koreans erected a bronze statue of MacArthur at Freedom Park in the western port of Incheon to show their gratitude. The five-meter (16-foot)-high statue portrays MacArthur holding a pair of binoculars and overlooking the bustling port where he landed.

An English-language inscription on the monument reads: “We shall never forget what he and his valiant officers and men of the United Nations Command did here for us and for freedom.”

But forget is exactly what some South Koreans want to do.

After laying a wreath at the memorial, Lee joined hundreds of other pro-US demonstrators, including war veterans in their 60s and 70s, who gathered in the park on Sunday to block about 50 anti-US activists intent on pulling down the statue.

Split by riot police, the two groups shouted insults at each other. Pro-MacArthur activists waved US and South Korean flags, calling their opponents “Pro-North Korean commies”.

The anti-US protestors responded with calls for the withdrawal of US troops and the dismantlement of the general’s image. They condemned MacArthur as “the chief of the occupying forces”.—AFP