Left Flank

Hankyoreh captures how most laypeople feel about politicians and the government in Seoul.

These days, officials of the presidential office and
the GNP are saying that they should think of the candlelight vigils as
a constant number, rather than as a variable, in the operation of state
affairs. Even hard-line GNP floor leader Hong Joon-pyo has started to
say that the candlelight rallies will continue. Politics begins from
admitting the reality.

One of the reasons why Cheong Wa Dae and the political parties are
working so hard to bring politics back to normal is because they are
feeling a sense of crisis. The existence of politics and politicians is
being threatened by the political vacuum that has been created amid the
continuation of the candlelight rallies for the past two months.
Lawmakers from the DP and the progressive opposition Democratic Labor
Party have joined the candlelight protests en masse, almost with a
sense of embarrassment, because a considerable number of citizens say
that lawmakers should be fighting with them on the street instead of
attending the Assembly.

It is difficult to say, however, whether politics will recover fully,
considering the divergent positions taken by President Lee Myung-bak
and each one of the parties.

Above all, President Lee and the GNP have not yet shown themselves to
be sincere. When the candles go out, they can stage a major
counterattack as they have done in the past.

One would think the pols in Seoul were aliens!

Former Bush administration official Victor Cha doesn't see anti-Americanism in Seoul.

GWEN IFILL: So is this really about diseased beef, or is there something else going on here?

VICTOR CHA: Well, I think initially it is about concerns that the Korean public has about American beef. Those concerns, in my opinion, are not well-placed. U.S. beef is actually safe by international scientific standards.

But there, I think, is a larger issue here, which is what appears to be the general public's concern about this new government in South Korea, the first conservative government in over a decade, and whether it's pursuing a style of government that is considered high-handed.

He must not have received the special sunglasses! Listen, or watch, the entire interview, remarkable for its probity and sobriety.