Korean Job Discussion Forums

[The Bobster]

[red dog]

They're not "my" alternative to anything. They are one of numerous groups in Korea that I think is doing good work.

The different groups in Korea have different approaches, just as activists in other countries do, and as I said I looked into this matter a few years ago and don't really know what the various groups are up to now.

So I don't necessarily favor one group over the others, or think any one group has the perfect strategy. Very few organizations of any kind are "perfect."

I provided links to the other groups elsewhere in this thread, and/or the other thread -- I don't remember which one it was -- to counter the misconception that ONLY foreigners are interested in protecting animals in Korea. I'm still not sure you are fully aware of what a huge distortion of reality that is.

As you mentioned, a few years ago the government introduced measures designed to "protect" animals. I don't remember the details, but it involved plans to "reform" the dog meat industry and make it more "humane." Well, animal advocates in Korea looked over the measures and found them to be worse than nothing. I believe KAPS was one of the groups, but there were something like 11 or 12 other KOREAN groups as well, made up of people who are highly familiar with these issues and were in a much better position than you or me to judge whether the proposed measures were meaningful, or whether they'd do more harm than good. Despite their differences on other matters, these Korean animal advocates issued a joint statement opposing the measures.

NO ONE LISTENED!!!!

The papers reported that the government was introducing "animal welfare" measures to "protect" dogs raised for human consumption, and completely ignored the dissenting voices -- which came from the best-informed and most caring segment of Korean society, NOT from Brigitte Bardot. The Korean animal advocates were censored, and when the papers mentioned opposition to the dog meat trade they nearly always cited Bardot or other "foreigners." This was a very dishonest portrayal of the issue, and you're passing on that false picture to the readers of these forums.

If you or I ran the Korean animal protection organizations, they might well have to change their strategies, but we don't. If I'm a Korea basher for wanting the government to take action to protect animals, then sorry -- you're an even worse Korea basher for attacking Korean animal protection groups and telling them how to carry out their work when you have no understanding whatsoever of the issues.

And another thing -- you're guilty of misrepresenting the nature of the "feuding" you talk about. It's not my place to get in the middle of the feud or take sides, but the core of it involves disagreements among Koreans. It's not a matter of foreigners "hijacking" the KAPS Web site, or any other Web site. The opinions you express are misinformed.

[The Bobster]

[red dog]

Also, about Brigitte Bardot. I'm not a follower of her campaigns and didn't follow the court case against her either, although I remember reading something about it. Certainly from everything I read about her infamous interview with that Korean radio station, she came across to me as a very poor spokesperson.

But now I wonder if there's a possibility the charges against her were trumped up, and if she may possibly have been misrepresented in the media.

You and I didn't talk to her personally, and the authors of the articles you cited above seemed to be using recycled quotes instead of checking with the source directly. That's not great journalism, is it? Other animal people such as Ingrid Newkirk, Peter Singer and Paul Littlefair (of the RSPCA in Britain) have been repeatedly misquoted and quoted out of context in the media, so I'm very skeptical of anything I read in the papers.

Nothing on Bardot's site seems particularly heinous to me, although she seems to be more involved in animal welfare and conservation efforts than animal rights as such. In fact, it looks like she's doing some good work, and Korea isn't mentioned on the site at all. Exactly where is the racism on her official site?

http://www.fondationbrigittebardot.fr

[red dog]

I just saw the above attack after I posted my last message. As usual, more slanderous garbage.

And it was hardly a "private domestic matter." Periwinkle posted her story on a public message board!!!! I responded the same way any decent person would to any other message about a violent crime, in any country, regardless of the nationality of the criminal.

[The Bobster]

[The Bobster]

[The Bobster]

I find it bizarre that you promote KAPS and then backpedal away from them - and now you are supporting Bardot! Talk about a moving target.

[red dog]

I don't know what you mean by "backpedaling." There are many Korean groups doing good work for animals. I don't run them and don't have to defend their strategies. My point was that you should acknowledge their existence instead of suggesting Brigitte Bardot is leading the animal protection movement in Korea, when her involvement appears to have been limited to one radio interview several years ago.

You are also twisting the facts regarding the cruelty issue. Korean animal advocates have been trying to get the law changed for years. They are very concerned with cruelty, but they don't all necessarily agree on which changes for animals are the most important, or which strategy is best. If they ask for everything, they may get nothing, and they know that. When I said no one listened, I meant the media reported the issue selectively and didn't pay much attention to the Koreans who had been working on these issues for years.

I was about to write more, but I'm afraid we're getting into private issues and I'd prefer to stop talking.

And I'm sure you'd call the police if you were assaulted; passing on an e-mail address hardly constitutes an international campaign to "change Korea." But you dictating the policies of an animal protection group could very well change it for the worse.

[red dog]

She wasn't "very active" in Korea. That's your delusion. She had one radio interview and it was reported over and over again. Who knows if the report was even accurate? If it was, I'd be the first to condemn her. But I doubt every journalist who passed it on actually picked up the phone and checked to see if the report was accurate in the first place. We're only hearing secondary reports, which I approach with a healthy dose of cynicism.

The site contains a lot of info about ritual slaughter. It's a "welfarist" approach, and seems to be aimed at convincing religious leaders to accept methods of slaughter that are less horrific for the animals and don't violate their religious beliefs. I don't see the racism. But I'd have to read her book to know whether the charges against her were justified.

[Daechidong Waygookin]

[red dog]

WTF?

[The Bobster]

[red dog]

If Bardot is a bigot, I'm not defending her bigotry. But it sounds like she's doing some good work -- e.g., sterilizing stray cats so they don't get rounded up by animal control. I don't know whether Bardot had any contact with KAPS, but KAPS has in the past asked for international assistance, and they did ask people to express opposition to having the World Cup in Korea. Whether that was a good or bad strategy is a valid topic of discussion, but the problem is that you keep twisting the facts.

[The Bobster]