South Koreans Protest U.S. Trade Deal

While you wouldn’t know it from watching American media, Seoul has been awash in protests for 40 straight days. South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, the former mayor of Seoul, was elected last December by a large margin as he promised to be the savior of the lagging economy. But it hasn’t turned out that way, and the people have taken to the streets protesting nearly every aspect of his presidency. The current, massive protests seen above were triggered by a deal signed in April that would re-allow American beef into South Korea (it was banned in 2003 after a U.S. outbreak of mad cow).

Lee hoped his decision to end the five-year-old ban on American beef would help win U.S. congressional support for a free trade agreement between the countries. Such a deal would further cement the alliance and help the South Korean economy, he said…. Thousands of students, communicating mainly through the Internet, immediately took to the streets. The protesters called the agreement a “humiliating” concession made under U.S. pressure and in disregard of Koreans’ welfare.

What really stood out about this story for me was how deferential the South Korean government is to their people. They’re begging for forgiveness, offering to resign, and just overall actin’ the bitch of the people. Which is how it should be, right? It’s like that famous Jefferson quote, “When the government fears the people, there is liberty; When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” (According to the Jefferson Library, he never actually said that. Whatever.)

South Korea’s entire cabinet offered to resign Tuesday as tens of thousands of people filled boulevards in central Seoul in the largest demonstration yet against President Lee Myung Bak and his young but already unpopular government….


The rally had an almost festive mood, with people dancing to songs blaring from loudspeakers. The city center reverberated with the anti-government slogans. Overhead, large balloons carried banners that said: “Judgment Day for Lee Myung Bak” and “Renegotiate the beef deal.” A widely distributed leaflet said: “Mad cow drives our people mad!”….


The protesters appeared to span a broad spectrum of society: teenage students, union members, Roman Catholic nuns, office workers in neckties and mothers and fathers holding the hands of small children….

The food and agriculture minister, Chung Won Chun, visited the rally to give a speech, but protesters quickly surrounded him chanting “traitor” and he quickly left.


Lee appealed to the police and the protesters to avoid clashes. He promised he would be “humble before the people’s voice” and called for national unity to overcome an economic crisis spawned by stagnant growth and surging prices for oil and other raw materials.”