Korean Job Discussion Forums

[julian_w]

This article was posted now '20 minutes ago', and only 6 when I discovered it.

There seems to have been a breakthrough this evening ...or maybe rather a breakdown, finally, of the LMB goverment's position,
right when protests are starting to get nasty.

I think that this is still somewhat of a victory of freedom and democracy,
even though I also presume there is misinformation, ulterior motives and obfuscation on both sides of the debate.

I've only just started researching about all this. Thanks to Jake Kim for sharing a bunch of useful information, and doggyji for pointing to some good links and info. too.

I want to ask anyone out there who knows:

why does Dave Louthan NOT have his own wikipedia page ?

[Temporary]

who cares koreans are so brainless sometimes its not funny.

The chances of me geting mad cow is so low its not funny. I was in USA many times before 2003 and couple times after, ate many steaks and I am still alive.

Been here for over 3 years, I have been hit by a car 4 times as a pedestrian. 3 times while I was driving my motorcycle every single time it was the fault of a witless and unaware/drunk Korean.

I was never hit by a car in the USA or Canada. Infact OECD places Korea as top country for pedestrain deaths and injuries.. Where is the Koreans holding candle light vigils against stupidity on Korean roads.

[justaguy]

What are you guys talking about?

Watching Koreans freaking out about a fantom cow every night on the news is the best show in town.

God bless YTN.

Stop judging Koreans and enjoy the show.

[earthbound14]

The whole things is completely wacky. I don't know what to say. While I have read the comments posted by Jake Kim I find it hard to agree provided the source was the Korean media. Although, that being said, my girlfriend has painted a similar picture and it doesn't seem unlikely. I mean the concerns are worth researching. I don't think Koreans should buy American, Canadian, British beef or any other countries beef, to keep business moving as usual.

I think what most people here are objecting to is the rather unobjective, rather nationalistic way Koreans seem to be going about the protest...not to mention it's about as over the top as a soccer player who has fallen and is trying to draw a red card. Most people here can't understand why this would be such an issue when there are so many more important issues that Korea could be worrying about. I mean really, this country is out of it. They drive like fools, drink like fools, smoke like fools and suddenly the one things that is far less likely to kill them (statistically proven your more likely to be hit and killed by a car, or even worse win the lottery than catch mad cow) has become all the rage to ....rage about.

Not to mention we have all suffered in some way from this nationalistic urge to crap on things that are not Korean and blame things that are not Korean for the way they make Korea bad.....without mentioning the things already in Korea that really make Korea bad. Let's just say the argument over bad English teachers or bad hogwans...which one gets more press but which one is the biggest culprit. Honestly I wouldn't expect support or sympathy from English teachers in Korea, regardless of how horrible Mad Cow is. English teacher in Korea have been crapped on enough and they are having their own little rant...if Korea cant rant about us we sure as hell are going to rant about it in return.

Another interesting point...how many Koreans living in the US actually don't eat beef or import Korean beef?

Anyway, I liked your post though, the link was really interesting. Good video, great use of free speech which I honestly think is suffering these days.

I found an interesting topic while looking up Mad Cow. Canada recenlty found a case of Mad Cow. This cow was born after the ban on using animal parts to feed cows. This was what we thought we the root of the problem, but if a cow can be born in Canada under the pretty strict conditions they have there without ever having eaten a peice from another cow.....exactly what is going on? Are they really as strict as they say or is Mad Cow less understood than we thought?

The US has continued to ban Canadian Beef....this new cow does nothing to help Canadian farmers. The US has used the same methods for controlling the disease...although many articles say Canada has been far stricter...what ever, it's an argument that won't be one, especially in light of the recent cow. Anyway, if both Canada and the US have very similar practices for controlling the disease and the US has continued to ban Canadian beef....exactly why is it then OK for them to ship it to Korea? A little hypocritical isn't it? Korea has no Mad Cow disease and any risk really shouldn't be considered worth while. It would be far more logical for the US and Canada to a little lax with each other due to the fact that they both already have mad cow and are taking similar measures to control the disease...one would think this was merely a trust issue.

And if Canada has a case of mad cow after implementing what they consider to be strict controls (very similar to Americans) then why would the Americans presume to be so confident that they have things under control? Clearly the Canadian case which was openly reported should be taken as a cautionary flag that the disease may not be as controlled as they had hoped. So sending beef to Korea would be pretty irresponsible.

Anyway, that being said I'm still more worried about air pollution in Korea than I am about American beef and I have a hard time with Korea's reaction and I can't help but wish they were a little kinder to the poeple who live here and work for them. Cause we might just give a rats arse about mad cow in Korea if we felt we had a little more respect from the people.

[SeoulFinn]

[julian_w]

SeoulFinn,

Do you know that saying:

Where the people lead, the leaders will follow?

The whole aspect of 'one citizen, one vote' is nice,
and it is an important part of a large modern nation-state's freedom and democracy,
and it is balanced somewhat in Korea in that rural areas have something like one representative in the government house per (smaller number) than in urban areas which have one rep. per (larger number).

That's all well and good, cool and groovy, but a lot of the election process is often a formalised sham
... (did you see 'Gangs of New York'..? The election part was the best ... apart from the fight scenes!) ...

(Ergh, so anyway,) I'm saying that the right of people to openly associate, share political material including make statements critical of government policies etc., form pressure groups, and demonstrate in public means that people can directly influence the direction of policy AT THE TIME...

(rather than just elect someone whom they don't really know beyond an over-dressed smily face wandering around making vague promises and kissing babies every four or five years, and then sitting back and letting that person 'represent' them by doing whatever they want for the rest of that time. ... That's why this is called a 'representative democracy').

Now, back in the late 70s and early 80s New Zealanders got all worked up and emotional about a couple of issues, they protested, and, for example, they ended up influencing government policy on the visits of US nuclear-powered and possibly armed naval ships ever since. One media commentator at the time said New Zealand was like 'the mouse that roared' in that the people-power of the protestors changed foreign policy and directly influenced the expression of the hegemony of the USA. Potentially nuclear armed, nuclear powered ships haven't visited since.

Well, living in Gwangju and watching what happens here every May 18, I'm aware of the enjoyment of locals in expressing their expensively won current political freedom. So today it gives me great pleasure to say (without any sarcasm... as much as I do sometimes enjoy a good bit of it) congratulations to the Korean tiger for waking up and meowing loud enough to get the attention of the bald eagle across the pond:

* * * * * * *

U.S. Consumers Union demands mad cow testing



A group of American consumers yesterday demanded the U.S. government lift the ban on mad cow testing to alleviate safety concerns about U.S. beef at home and abroad.

"The best thing the U.S. Department of Agriculture could do would be to drop its anticompetitive, anti-consumer ban on voluntarily testing for mad cow disease and also allow meat from tested animals to be labeled as 'tested for BSE' so that consumers have a choice and free markets can function," said Michael Hansen, senior scientist at the Consumers Union, in a statement released in the group's website.

Consumers Union, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization for consumers' right, also said the USDA's opposition to mad cow disease testing was "hurting our trade with other countries and consumer confidence in our beef supply at home."

By highlighting fierce protests against the U.S beef imports in Korea, the group urged the U.S. government to allow meat producers to voluntary test mad cow disease, saying "tests could resolve the Korea beef trade dispute."

Some U.S. media also called on the U.S. government to ensure the safety of American beef.

The New York Times said yesterday that there are reasons why "foreign customers were openly skeptical" after the first mad cow disease case was found in the state of Washington in late 2003.

The NYT reported in an article titled "Questions on U.S. beef still remain" that the U.S. government was testing "only a tiny fraction of the 30 million animals it slaughtered each year."

As evidence, the newspaper said the U.S. tested only 219 animals in 1997, the year it restricted feeding ruminant protein to other ruminants because of the suspicions about the disease in Europe.

Even in 2003, when the first positive was found, it tested about 20,000 only, the NYT report said.

The Consumer Union also insisted that the USDA tests only 0.1 percent of all slaughtered or dead American beef cattle.

It also raised concerns that the U.S. department was testing "only for surveillance, not food safety."

"The sampling was designed to give 95 percent certainty of finding the disease if it existed in one in a million cattle, which is the rate that would be expected from spontaneous genetic mutations, such as those found in humans with the degenerative brain disease known as Creutzfeld-Jakob syndrome," the NYT reported.

Even though the Food and Drug Administration banned feeding cow blood, waste from chicken coop floors and plate waste from restaurants to cattle in early 2004, the FDA restrictions were never implemented due to political pressure, the NYT reported.

The consumers union also called for the U.S. government to allow a Kansas-based meat packing company to test their slaughtered cows for mad cow disease.

According to the union, Creekstone, a meat producer in Kansas, won its suit against the agency for the right to test and label its meat as "tested for BSE." But USDA appealed the ruling, arguing the same rapid test kits used by the agency to screen for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow, are "worthless" when used by a private company.

"If U.S. companies were allowed to test for BSE, then these heavy export restrictions would probably decline or disappear. Indeed, the reason that Creekstone brought the case against USDA was to regain lost income from exports to South Korea and Japan," Hansen said.

By Cho Chung-un

([email protected])

2008.06.12

* * * * * * *

Okay so, granted the Consumers Union is just one NGO that has achieved just one headline in (as far as I know right now) just one admittedly liberal lefty rag. But it's a start.

It's a good article, too. It includes well attributed quotes that make good points (as far as I know) in terms of science, not just emotionalism.

Is it the start of influencing change over that way? Who knows. But it is another victory for freedom and democracy, even if only in the ability to see influence spread to other supposedly free people within their own nation-state.

[rumdiary]

Americans should ban the import of all Korean electronic appliances since this is the only country that builds fans that kill people in their sleep.

[Enrico Palazzo]

[Temporary]

[Scotticus]