South Korea

Re “Economic Crisis Fuels Anti-Foreign Mood in S. Korea,” Jan. 17: I just came back from a trip to Korea, where I neither witnessed nor sensed any anti-foreign or anti-U.S. sentiment. The Korean people are desperately trying to cope with rising mass layoffs (estimated to go as high as 1.5 million lost jobs) and rising energy costs, brought on by devaluation of their currency by 50%.

People are milling around at stores offering goods at steep discounts--some up to 70%. Your story cites--as an example of a supposed anti-U.S. mood--a drop in the sales of Chrysler cars. Koreans don’t even want to keep Korean-made cars. High gasoline costs drive them to put ads in newspapers offering to give away used cars for free! They are simply pragmatic, not anti anything.

JOHN S. WHANG

La Canada Flintridge