What’s the beef???
June 10, 2008 – 100,000 protesters attended a rally in downtown Seoul.
June 11, 2008 – 8 Students and 2 Professors arrived in Seoul.
As we flew out of the United States, some of us knew in May there had been demonstrations in Seoul. Some of us knew that it was about the importation of U.S. beef; however, none of us knew how serious the situation was becoming while we were on the plane en route to Seoul.
We quickly became aware of the situation, on our first day’s trek around the city when we were strolling along the sidewalk in front of City Hall and practically strolled right into the middle of a labor union demonstration. Since all of the signs were written in Hangul, and none of us could read them, we were not sure what exactly was going on. It was later that day when we approached another protest that we figured it out. This protest had a banner with a picture of a “mad” cow on it. Still, we questioned, “What’s the beef?”
Is it really a protest against the U. S. standard of exporting beef? Surely not we thought. A quick “google” of the terms “South Korea, Beef, and U.S.” quickly filed our browsers with articles relating the previous 24-hours news. The articles outlined the situation. The South Koreans were upset about the government’s decision to re-open the country’s doors to the importation of beef from the U.S.; doors that had been closed since 2003 after the discovery of an American cow infected with the “mad cow” virus.
We had plenty of opportunities, during our 27 days in S. Korea, to ask the questions about the protests. We visited the U.S. Embassy and asked; what was their take on the situation and did we need to be worried. It was then that we first heard the term “Candlelight Festival.” The Embassy officials told us that the S. Koreans were very peaceful and were referring to the demonstrations simply as a “Candlelight Festival.” The Embassy officials did tell us to avoid the demonstrations because while most of the events were peaceful, as it got later the “festival” attitude changed to one more focused on disruption and riots.
I had a chance to discuss the situation with a Jenny. Jenny worked for the government on the trade agreement right up until the demonstrations started. She referred the protests as “Candlelight Festival” and said that it was not really about whether U.S. beef was bad or not. The people were upset because they do not believe that the government will protect them from harmful products, in general. Jenny said that most Koreans did not trust the President. Many felt that he was just a businessman only looking out for the government and not looking after the people.
It was interesting hearing this take on the situation. It started me thinking about what I was witnessing first hand. I was in a country that was exercising their rights. They were lining the streets by the thousands. They were speaking out against the government. Letting it be known that they were unhappy about what was going on, and as long as they were peaceful, they were allowed to do so. If we had been in North Korea this would never have even had a chance to happen. Instead we were in South Korea and they can express how they feel about the way the government is running things.
I was impressed by the passion of the Koreans. With the upcoming election, fast approaching it is our chance to speak out about how we think our government has been running and how it should continue. I have come home with a renewed excitement for our own democracy.
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