Annie SHK

My thoughts on anti-US beef importation in South Korea

In Opinion, Summer on June 10, 2008 at 12:12 pm

People of South Korea have been protesting against the importation of US beef for more than a month now (June 9). The recently elected president, Lee Myung-bak, of South Korea decided to lift up the ban of beef importation from United States when he consulted that beef is now safe. The ban was created since 2003 in response to a case of Canadian-born cow was infected in United States.

In 2003, United States Department of Agriculture identified two cows that were infected with mad cow disease. Since then, in fear of afflicting with mad cow disease, South Korea government decided to restrict the imports of beef from US. Before the ban, South Korea had the third largest importation of US beef after Mexico and Japan.

When Lee decided to relax the restriction, the public has been protesting against his decision in fear of getting disease from US beef although only 200 people were inflicted with BSE over 5 years worldwide.

How people protest is intriguing. They use candlelight vigils to protest peacefully but over time, the protests got violent. Korea Beat caught the attention of the candlelight vigils protest when the teenagers participated. That is when I knew about it. At first, I shrugged off and said how stupid it is to get worked up about it when there are clearly worse issues to be straightened out like ongoing rape against female athletes that no police is doing anything about. And candlelight vigils are used to remember and respect the dead, not to protest!

After a month of following this issue, I begin to wonder if people are actually protesting because they are afraid of getting the mad cow disease. The mad cow disease started in England, not United States and people in England actually died from an epidemic unlike in United States. England have identified almost 200,000 cows and 160 people were inflicted with BSE whereas United States identified 3 cows and 3 people in the same manner.

Clearly, Koreans are ignorant on facts of mad cow disease which brings me to question their motives or intentions behind their protest. Over 100,000 people participated in protests including teenagers.

  • Is it an anti-American sentiment?
  • Are they concern with animal rights?
  • Do they protest in order to have a voice for the public in politics?
  • Is there a political agenda behind it and the mad cow disease as a reason is just a cover up?
  • Is it that they don’t like the new president and looks for an excuse to bring him down?
  • Has the media made a mistake or intentionally misrepresenting the information?
  • Are they protesting for the sake of protesting?
  • Do they feel threatened if their human rights are ignored by the government?
  • Do they feel like being a part of the society by joining in the protest?
  • Do they want meaningful lives or be famous by participating in order to get beat up by riot cops and declare themselves as heroes or martyrs?
  • Are they just in blind hysteria?
  • Or am I looking into this more than I need to and why do I care?

 

Really, why do I care? I was born and raised in hell South Korea for 9 years and all my families come from there. Whatever happens there affect us in some ways because my parents watch Korean news and read Korean newspapers. Although I disown my Korean citizenship and want to cut ties with Korea but I simply cannot ignore my heritage.

I do admire the people rallying the protests to make themselves heard and together, they want to state their public opinion on the decisions that government makes. However this time, these protesters have gone too far. I’m upset over how they are taunting the riot police, provoking them with violence so they can become victims of police brutality. Ironically, the protesters want to do demonstration peacefully but the protesters are equipped with ladders, sticks, pipes and some blunt and sharp objects. No matter what riot police do, even in extreme measures like hosing them off with high speed water cannon jet or crushing the skulls, the protesting is escalating.

If Koreans are concerned with the safety of their health, then they should look at their own agriculture. According to World Organization for Animal health, United States is one of the countries that are BSE controlled, meaning that its beef can be safely consumed. However, South Korea is not on the list. Every country who runs the animal farm is mandated to test all the animals on standard procedure to make sure that the animals are healthy and are safely consumed. South Korea do have cattle farms but the cows aren’t passing the test before the slaughter. Thus, Korean beef is questionable and unsafe.

There is a rumor that United States export the beef from cattle older than 30 months and keep that are under to themselves. However, it is reported that South Korea received about 2% of American beef imports that are 30 months old whereas United States consume about 18% (in case of McDonald’s beef patties). The cattle that are more than 30 months are likely to contract the BSE but if 18% is the percentage that Americans consume every day, not one has reportedly died from it.

So why the hell protesters are so worked up about it? It could be that the media misrepresenting the information regarding the mad cow disease or US beef. It could be that the one sided opinion of online community is too great to allow the different views. It could be the opposition party is going after the current president and demanding sympathies from the public (which is successful if that’s the case). If South Korea is one of the most educated countries, then they should be open minded and look for facts.

Then again, despite being highly educated, the students in middle and high school have little socialization. They have to cram for the examinations throughout the secondary school careers to get into universities. They have to sacrifice their sleep and socialization to get good marks on those exams. They have to memorize 60 – 100 pages of facts every day leaving no room for creativity and critical thinking. Basically, they’re not encouraged to have their own opinions and worldwide views from outside source. So maybe this protest is teenagers’ opportunity to speak their own opinions.

Koreans also strongly show their nationalistic pride and xenophobia. I remember living in Korea and being treated harshly and getting hatred glares just because I don’t look like them. Their sentiment that the beef is importing from United States might have to do with the protests.

What if the beef were to be imported from England which was the actual source of mad cow disease? Would Koreans protest or just eat them because they are not from United States?

In Christian Science Monitor, the director of Asian studies in Georgetown University quoted, “Groups in Korea have made a big deal of beef for reasons that have nothing to do with science. The way the leftists have gone after Lee on beef, it’s not beef or science at all. The left has got hold of this and beat him with it.”

Poor Lee. After mere 100 days in the office, Lee gets bashed in. He won the election by the landslide but now he’s really unpopular. His house is even being stalked by protesters. He’s in pending impeachment proposed by the opposition party but he’s fighting back by resorting to public fear. He said he will restrict the importation, only to import beef from cattle under 30 months old without any bones.

Seriously, it’s tiring. I asked my mom earlier about it. She said this issue always show up in Korean news and newspaper because they’re always protesting and they’re getting crazy. I asked for her opinion which made me smile because I never heard of this claim.

“President Bush is trying to sell beef so the economy will boost. You know how the economy nowadays, it’s not good. President Lee succumb to his knees before Bush because Bush threatened him that he will withdraw US military support if Korea doesn’t buy beef. You know that Korea needs US military support just in case if there’s a war because Korea is weak. So that’s why President Lee agreed to import US beef.”

Oh, my mom. I don’t know where she heard this but she likes to think it’s one of the American government conspiracy theories. I think this type of theory amuses her: the government conspiracy. I heard other conspiracy theories from my mom before and I thought they were nonsense. But this time, surprisingly, it kind of makes sense.

My conclusion is facepalm in embarrassment. There is nothing more I can say about this issue. The way the public reacts to re-importation is irrational and the motive is anti-American sentiment driven by Leftists. Clearly, the public can do it otherwise which is more effective. “Do NOT buy any beef at Korean market because most of the beef is imported. That action will mostly hurt America because America is the largest distributor of beef.” If 100,000 people can protest, I’m sure more than 100,000 people can do this, too.

Americans should ban the importation of South Korean cellphones because cellphones can cause traffic deaths and brain cancer. Since South Korea is the largest distributor of cellphones, we should stop using theirs. (I’m being sarcastic. Do you get what I’m saying?)

There are other bloggers who watch closely on this issues and can tell you better than I do. I’m just merely bringing this up and stating my opinion. Please visit their sites and comments written on these blogs often give more insights. I encourage you to read more than I posted below.

Blogs:

 

References:

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