Koreans Executed Over Opposition to US Beef Imports

A Beef Guy Stands Up for Freedom of Speech

Mad Cow Bullshit
at：2008-12-30 12:49:28 Click: 35
To date, I have refrained from commenting on the Mad cow Bullshit that consumed the country for months. But I read this article in the Chosun Ilbo and had to express my thoughts. Here's the money quote:Kim Tae-yeol, the president of KOMIA said, “It seems there was a huge potential demand for U.S. beef, although the social atmosphere did not allow it to surface.This is pretty much what I was thinking all along, and is what I kept telling my father who is a US beef producer. The social atmosphere didn't allow the demand to surface. People were too afraid to say that their true opinions on the matter. It is no wonder people were afraid to speak up when doing so could cause beatings or even boycotts of your business. For months and months, the entire country was snared in the anti-US Beef tomfoolery (I can't believe I just used that word).Now, it seems the tables are turning. As per the Korea Times, MBC--and 'PD Notebook' in particular--is being sued:Thousands of citizens filed a collective lawsuit against MBC's investigative program ``PD Notebook,'' demanding 2.47 billion won ($2.4 million) in compensation for mental and commercial damage caused by what they called false and exaggerated reports on mad cow disease.A group of lawyers associated with an Internet community ``Nonodemo,'' which opposes anti-U.S. beef protests, filed the suit with the Seoul Southern District Court on Thursday on behalf of 2,469 citizens.``The TV program in question was derelict in its duty to deliver fair and unbiased information, pushing the whole country into chaos as a consequence. It inflicted huge mental and physical damage on society,'' the community said in a statement. That's not all. The people who called for the boycott of prominent newspapers have been detained by the prosecution. Korea Beat translates an article --that has yet to appear in any English outlets (Update: Korean Times had a nice article about 24 who were indicted and fined). One has to wonder about what democracy means in the 21 century South Korea. I understand that people--and by extension, companies--have a right to their reputation. I think that in theory, it is a noble law, but at what expense? It means that people are free to be crooks and liars because you cannot call them on their behavior without being subject to a libel suit. There is no restaurant section in any newspaper which gives reviews. They may tell of a new GOOD restaraunt, but never a bad one. If they write of a bad experience they can be sued. If I want to call for a boycott on a company for selling dumplings filled with rotten kimchi, I can land in hot water. Agree with the Mad Bullshit protesters or not, if they want to boycott a company, what business is it of the government to step in and fine them, restrict them from travel, and even put them in jail?Some of the activists and instigators of the Spring of Mad Cow Protests have been seeking refuge in the temples of Korea. Hiding out. However three of them have been stabbed by a PRO-US Beef supporter.The assailant, identified only by his family name Park, argued that U.S. beef is safe for consumption before assaulting the men just outside the Jogye Temple, headquarters of the country's largest Buddhist sect.The victims are members of the Anti-Lee Myung-bak Cafe, an online community supporting organizers of the anti-U.S. beef protests who have been taking refuge since July in the Buddhist temple to evade arrest.My question is this: if they were taken to the hospital, and no longer in the sanctuary of the temples, were they arrested? I mean, these guys were in all the newspapers, so they are no longer hidden, right? If they've been hiding out from the police for all these months, and now I'm reading about them in the English newspapers, wouldn't it seem logical that they'd be taken in for questioning.Instead, the police have been busy with something else.

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