Where's the Beef? The Sources of Public Anger

One reason that the 1980s Wendy's commercial keeps popping into my mind is that I, like most observers of the political upheaval in South Korea these days, wonder what are the true or genuine sources of public anger. Few people who observe the repeated candlelight vigils and the evolution of the anti-Lee Myung Bak government movement would question that the people seem angry. Koreans are passionate about many things, including their politics. But what are the sources of this current passion? According to press reports, they include:

• Opposition to President Lee's proposal for a Grand National Canal.
• Disagreement with the new President's media reforms, including changes in relevant cabinet ministries and creation of a new Broadcasting and Communications Commission.
• Opposition to education-sector reforms instituted by the new government.
• A general opposition to the way in which President Lee's government implemented its policies, without considering the wishes of the Korean people.

The list could probably go on, but it appears the primary source of public anger in South Korea was pinpointed in an insightful New York Times article by Choe Sang-Hun. That is, it has to do with nationalism and with Korean pride. Powerful television images from Camp David instantly conveyed to some Koreans that President Lee had kowtowed to President Bush by bringing him an agreement to resume imports of American beef in exchange hopefully for approval of the KORUS FTA. As correspondent Choe notes, when faced with the wall built from shipping containers, "... people pasted identical leaflets on it, their message dramatically summarizing Mr. Lee’s image and alienation from many of his people: “This is a new border for our country. From here starts the U.S. state of South Korea.”

Information Age Politics--Mad Cow Disease and Anti-Americanism

What do the following have in common?

• A poll shows that 34 percent of first-year South Korean army cadets called the United States the main enemy of South Korea. While the majority ― or 34 percent ― picked the U.S., 33 percent said they regarded North Korea as the main enemy. Korea Times
• An in-house poll for the governing party in early May found that President Lee's rating has slipped to less than 30 percent, down 10 percentage points from last week. "Beef Deal Pulls Down Lee's Ratings," Korea Times.
• Education authorities yesterday instructed heads of schools nationwide to take steps to stop groundless rumors over the imports. This came in the wake of candlelight vigils in which an estimated 60 percent of the participants were middle-and high-school students.
• Reportedly 660,000 people have signed a petition on the web to impeach President Lee Myung Bak.
• Korean-American organizations in New York, Washington and Los Angeles held press conferences this week in an effort to calm the mad cow scare in Korea.
• All sorts of rumors regarding mad cow disease are spreading by mobile phone text messaging and via the internet.

All of the above are manifestations of South Korean politics in the information age. The significance of the current political developments has less to do with the Korean government's decision to resume importing American beef, per se, than with other larger concerns and President Lee's recent visit to the U.S. Over and above the symbolism of candlelight vigils, there is a decidedly anti-American message to the current student protests, as one can easily see from visiting http://www.michincow.net/ a website put up to help mobilize the protests.