Left Flank

Finding the South Korean heart amid the eddies of public opinion is as always frustrating. But, two examples define the range where my hopes lie.

Firstly, despite how Hanky and the Chosun Daily see it differently, I found this quote from the conservative Chosun significantly cheering and illuminating:

Internet users are becoming more vocal in criticizing violent protests, and argue it is time to recognize the government's efforts and stop candlelight vigils. Over 110,000 people clicked on a post titled, «Who are the people still holding the candles?» posted on Friday on the Agora board. «Didn't they watch the press conference and hear the president say that the beef from cattle aged 30 months and older will not be imported?» the writer says. «How come they just jump to the conclusion that the government will not keep its promise without giving it a chance?» It drew more than 3,300 responses. Some said the writer hit the bull's-eye and lamented that some people are distorting the issue. Others said this was not an issue where Koreans can sit back and trust the government. «Those who call for nonviolence have disappeared from the rally scenes, and the original intention of those remaining is to bring the country down no matter what the president says,» one user wrote.

Those expat conservatives who insist upon overreacting to radical provocations, by creating straw villians and with reactionary pique of their own, can only persist in their hurt feelings because they do not understand what ordinary South Koreans want.

To each the benefit, Ranting Englishman and Korea Beat disagree about the ROK Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries suing MBC for its egregiously unfair April 29 PD Notebook broadcast that ignited fear and spread misinformation.

These journalists have abused their position, and neglected their duty to tell the truth. Sometimes, the truth is open to interpretation, and had they interpreted information in a way that I disagreed with, I would defend their right to do so. PD Notebook have not done that. They have not made a mistake. They have deliberately lied and misrepresented «facts» in order to cause a public panic. They have used the personal tragedy of a mother and manipulated it by representing it as something else, hiding behind a language barrier in order to avoid immediate scrutiny.

vs.:

This does make me a little uncomfortable — as much as MBC is clearly at fault here, I don't think it's ok for the government to go after the press like this.

I have to take Korea Beat's side, and I did argue so on his site against punishing MBC (#21).

And, as if I needed another example, Hanky illustrates why managed bilateral trade deals suck.

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