I fly wide bodies to and from the USA. Landing off a visual at the end of a 10-11 hour flight is not easy, period. That's part of why we earn biggish salaries. US ATC do often instruct STUPID 180 to 5 requirements. I simply don't comply and slow down to approach speed by 4 miles at latest, to ensure a stable approach. English is my mother tongue, and I find the US staccato and non-standard communication difficult to understand. And they do not like to take no (negative) for an answer. Which for the Korean guys cannot have been easy. The command gradient at Asiana sounds over-steep as I have already written. And the lack of provision of a fully functioningl localizer sounds like someone at SFO and the authorities have a lot to answer for.
There has been a lot of nonsense written by people who do not fly wide bodies long-haul for a living. It is sometimes excruciatingly tiring and technically difficult. Even for the most accomplished of us. Sadly the public perception of this type of work is based on ignorance and media hype.
I am sure this accident was avoidable, whether or not the A/T was functioning. However the margins are slimmer than many of you would wish to believe.:
The above, posted a page back by a wise colleague, has to be repeated as it is very true, and I agree totally. Long haul just cannot be compared with a 6 sector short haul duty, even if the second seams more trying or demanding, it may not be the case. And, US ATC is really non standard. Other places in the word can keep a good flow and manage a lot of traffic keeping a good standard. High flow is no excuse.