After the two-month long protest in South Korea over its President Lee Myung Bak's decision to allow the importation of U.S. beefs including those from cows over 30 months old at the time of slaughter and beef products highly vulnerable and risky to the mad cow disease while giving up some of South Korea's quarantine rights, the U.S. media are beginning to report that questions of U.S. beefs still remain because U.S. beef safety inspections are not properly done. Dr. Paul Krugman's June 13, 2008, column, Bad Cow Disease, criticizes with some shocking details that reckless Milton Friedman style free-market economic deregulation damaged the safety and credibility of American food products and a clumsy U.S. diplomacy angered South Koreans during this controversy. This diary will explain the current situation in South Korea that are not reported by U.S. media.
Despite the fact that U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow's inflammatory comment insulted South Koreans, the South Koreans' protests are limited against U.S. beefs from cows that are over 30 months old and Amb. Vershbow himself, not the United States in general. Dr. Krugman's column did help also. One South Korean protester said that even though he does not like many things about the United States, he is not an anti-U.S. because he believes in people like Dr. Krugman.
Instead, the South Koreans' anger is directed to two additional areas. First, they are boycotting their countries' three largest conservative newspapers, Chosun Ilbo, Joongang Ilbo, and Dong-a Ilbo. These three newspapers are hawkish conservative, extreme right wing, and dishonest newspapers comparable to the Fox News and The Wall Street Journal Editorial. (Even Donald Rumsfeld reportedly expressed displeasure at some of these three newspapers several years ago as the Defense Secretary.) Last year, during the non-conservative centrist Roh Moo Hyun administration, they strongly warned against importing U.S. beefs out of the fear of mad cow disease. This year, because it was their favorite conservative Lee Myung Bak's decision to import U.S. beefs, they blindedly defended Lee Myung Bak and accused the protesters of being anti-American, pro-North Korea, even though this issue had nothing to do with being anti-U.S. or pro-North Korea. It is their typical, McCarthy-style way of attacking their opponents over any issue, even when the issue had nothing to do with the United States or North Korea.
South Koreans are quitting the subscription of these newspapers and successfully persuading large corporations not to publish ads on these newspapers, thus putting financial strain on these three newspapers. Instead, they are supporting progressive liberal newspapers that had less circulations, Hankyoreh and Kyunghyang, by subscribing to them and publishing ads on these two newspapers. This is the second time South Koreans are actively boycotting particular newspapers. The first successful boycott happened in 2003 when former Florida Marlins starting pitcher and Boston Red Sox closing pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim had a clash with a very rude paparazzo who worked for a sports newspaper called Goodday. At the time, South Koreans protested against the country's mainstream news media. A year after the incident, Goodday went bankrupt and shut down its business.
At the same time, South Koreans are fighting against Lee Myung Bak's attempt to put his men in the powerful positions in the television media and privatize some of the national broadcasting companies such as MBC.
Second, South Koreans are turning against corrupt, greedy, and politically right-wing Protestant Christian mega-church pastors. Many South Korean mega-churches are larger than American mega-churches in general. The Full Gospel Church in Seoul boasted 700,000 members once and still boasts several hundred thousand members. Other mega-churches boast several tens of thousands. And they are mostly located in Seoul. Nearly all pastors of these mega-churches are very wealthy extreme right-wing ideologues who don't even pay personal income tax. Moreover, because their Christian roots go back to American missionaries who stepped in Korea 100 years ago, they follow the extreme right-wing conservative political and religious doctrines that are in many U.S. right-wing Christians. And because they believe that the United States is a Christian country but fail to see the diverse nature of the country, they always accuse anyone who oppose them on any issue as anti-American, pro-North Korea.
South Korea's mega-church pastors are accusing the current protesters of being anti-American and pro-North Korea, even though this issue is strictly a health and food safety issue that many Americans side with South Korean protesters. Moreover, because Lee Myung Bak himself is a lifelong Protestant Christian and an elder of a mega-church, he relies too much on the advices of corrupt, greedy, and politically right-wing mega-church pastors in South Korea. Lee Myung Bak's pastor problem is much more grave than the pastor problems Barack Obama and John McCain had. Obama and McCain were able to sever their ties with problem pastors. However, Lee Myung Bak clings to bad pastors, does not listen to his own advisers or people's voices directly, and receives a heavy criticism for not communicating with his people over the issue.
Lee Myung Bak's public communications chief, who is also an ordained Protestant pastor, went even further and called the protesters "Satan." Even though this was a huge controversy in South Korea, he did not apologize and still keeps the post. (Update: He left his position along with other top advisers on June 20, 2008.) And several other mega-church pastors reportedly have used the "S" word against the protesters and many other mega-church pastors publicly defend him by saying, for example, that the Lord has anointed Lee Myung Bak into the Office of the President to overcome the current difficulties.
Lee Myung Bak and his South Korean right-wing Christian Protestant followers talk like they are the best allies of the United States, but they are in fact anti-American heretics who run against the spirit of America.
When Larry King asked Al Gore last year if Mitt Romney's Mormon faith is a problem, Mr. Gore said no but he added that there are "some people who want to convey the impression that God belongs, if not to a particular political party, that God has a particular political ideology and that those who disagree with a right-wing approach to this or that are against God. That is an anti-American view. That is completely contrary to the spirit of America. It is an American heresy and people in both parties ought to reject that and fight against it."
South Korea's mega-church pastors have potential to stoke anti-American sentiments with their own "anti-American heretic" behaviors. So far, South Korean protesters have not reacted to these mega-church pastors' behaviors with anti-U.S. outbursts. But they will not succumb to eating U.S. beefs just to avoid being called "Satan" by these mega-church pastors either. Also, more and more South Korean Protestant Christians are leaving these mega-churches. Some of them convert to Catholicism, some others go to smaller Protestant churches, while some others quit Christianity altogether. Only 7% of South Koreans say favorably of Lee Myung Bak now. Those 7% may be the top 1% wealthiest South Koreans and about half of 7 million South Korean Protestant Christians. (South Korea's population is 50 million.)
Obama and McCain severed their ties with their controversial pastors. Obama even condemned Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The U.S. diplomacy may have to find ways soon to overcome South Korea's pastor problems in order to sell U.S. beefs and improve the relationship between the two countries.