Our Local Protest

This is our very own anti-US beef protest up in our neck of the suburbs.

It doesn't quite compare to the hundreds of thousands of people that have showed up in Seoul and Busan, but I think it's respectable.


It looks like there's about 15 people at our protest, and every one of them have a candle to burn in protest of US beef. See, Koreans know way more than Americans do about the quality of US beef. Did you know that 99% of American beef is contaminated with Mad-Cow Disease? That's the "fact" that many people are spreading around here. Also, only 1/3 of Americans are susceptible to Mad-Cow because they've developed an immunity to it through eating it all the time. Koreans on the other hand? 3/4 of Hangukin (Koreans) are susceptible to Mad Cow because of their weaker frames and lack of natural immunity. (This was announced as fact on a well-known and respected media outlet here in Seoul, and instead of the public questioning it, they swallowed it hook line and sinker.) Supposedly, Hangukin are less susceptible to cancer than other nations. They are not less susceptible to Mad Cow Disease though. Kimchi can only do so much.

(If you click on this pic, you'll be able to see the Mad Cow art on the left side of the banner.)

You might know that Korea has recently resumed imports of US Beef. 3500 tons of it came in the first week after imports resumed, and it's done quite well in the markets. Some sellers of Korean beef have started offering discounts on local beef because on average it costs about 4 times as much as American beef, and about 3 times as much as Australian beef. The thing is, Korean beef is so much "better" than western beef because it's....uhh, it's expensive?

Anyhow, the real beef here is not that American beef is bad for you. The real problem is actually two-fold. First, the new president didn't do a whole lot of research about public sentiment before deciding to resume beef imports. He later learned that they weren't too excited about it. Korea, even though it's been "free" since 1953, hasn't really been free. There have been several "Presidents" since the end of the "Police Action" that haven't really treated the country as a democracy. Several used military to enforce new public policies and even quell some revolutions. But the people in this country have persisted and prevailed in the fight for a real democracy. (My co-teacher remembers being forced from her house out of fear of the military. She also remembers the sting of tear gas from those childhood years.)

(US Flag burning in 2000)

Secondly, the NGOs (Non governmental organizations) have incited violence and fostered anti-US hatred. Historically, they have jumped on any and all opportunities to spread hatred toward western countries (really, just America). Some people think that these groups are led by Communist infiltrators and activists. I don't know if it's true, you can decide. In 2002, around the time of the World Cup, these NGOs tried to spark hatred by claiming that a construction worker was killed by America because he fell on high voltage power lines that wouldn't have been there if the American military base wasn't located nearby. Their ship never set sail because the World Cup was going on at roughly the same time and public attention was consumed with the unexpected success of the Reds (that's South Korea, not Communism). Shortly after the World Cup however, a US tank rolled over two middle school girls who were walking home from school and BOOM, westerners were getting beat up in the streets because of the "American Occupation." Story here. The paper states that the Korean officials absolved the American soldiers of any misdeed, stating that is was in fact an accident, but the US Military charged and convicted the soldiers of Negligent Homicide. (Side note, following the conviction in US Military Courts, Korea demanded that the soldiers be returned to Korea to be tried again in Korean courts, completely reversing their prior absolution of guilt.) This whole incident was admittedly a horrible tragedy. The reaction from the Korean people was also a horrible tragedy. Hatred toward Americans escalated anyway.

(Flag tearing back in 2000)

I've got to admit that I'm venting a little bit. I don't hate Korea, and most of the Hangukin I know don't hate Americans. I'm just surprised about the push toward globalization in Korea while maintaining a fear of, or hatred for, one country who has helped so much.

What I've learned from all this is that Korean media have too much liberty in what they air as fact, and unfortunately many Korean people will believe it if it sounds true. I've also learned that some Koreans will do or say just about anything to achieve their personal and political goals. Thirdly, I've learned that Koreans are an incredibly passionate, highly irrational people. Issues like this explode and subside in a matter of weeks. Lastly, I've learned that Koreans can be maddeningly hypocritical. In one of the most dangerous countries in the WORLD for pedestrians, public outrage is manifested only when an American is the perpetrator. This particular incident has lasted several months, but now that beef imports have resumed the public has pretty much returned to normal. I'm waiting for the next opportunity the Koreans have to lash out at the American Government and people. I just hope it's not as big a deal as this has been.

(Pictures from 2000 were borrowed from www.usinkorea.org. The website has decent information about US military and expats in Korea.)