Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bookemdanno]

The wildy misguided protests against importation of American beef on a wider scale show no signs of abating. Indeed, as the following op-ed piece in The Korean Herald seems to indicate, they might be escalating.

[RJjr]

I hope it escalates to the point to where it actually gets coverage in the American media, though they would probably have to take some American embassy workers hostage for it to gain media coverage in the US. It's probably only a matter of time before the protesters do that.

[jajdude]

It's affecting me because I find it so absurb that it makes me wonder what the hell people are thinking. And I'm hearing it from the kids so it gets annoying. You know kids will just accept it all as fact.

I suppose sometimes you can't use reason to counter fears. Dumb crap like this isn't so rare I suppose. It makes ya wonder though who the hell am I living amongst? They seem normal enough but they really buy all this? For some reason I'm reminded of the panic about SARS around 5 years ago. Apparently there were four cases of SARS in Toronto. Elton John cancelled a concert there because of that, according to a newspaper. Was there really any danger?

It's interesting in a way because it just reminds you how irrational people can be when you play on their fears. Psychologists and Sociologists could have a great time with things like this. Maybe it's like the fear of flying. Statistics are useless in the face of fear. Many afraid of flying drive their cars all the time.

[esetters21]

It is more like the fear of American beef creating a fair market price for quality beef. I'm tired of hearing about it, and it just goes to show how much this place has to go in terms of being a respected society. Things are way misreprested in the media, and the gullible people take this to be the absolute truth. It is another example of a xenophobic society that is in panic mode, because they aren't the best at something.

[Temporary]

Stupid thing is you have 1000 fold chance of getting run over by a car here then even eating American Beef.

I was crossing the street yesterday on a green crosswalk light and the idiot almost ran me down thank god I was running and dodged the moron.

[Css]

dont really give a crap about it...the only people that do are koreans and *beep* hurt americans..

[ulsanchris]

this issue has been on CNN but it didn't do an indepth analysis of the story.

[hogwonguy1979]

yeah its affecting me, my school is near sajik park and 3 nites/week i go by where all the festivities have been occurring and it blocks up traffic etc causing what should be a 15 minute cab ride to turn into a 30-45 minute ordeal.

besides the fact i find this stuff to be so absurd its not funny, why not protest something reasonable like the situation in china and burma and the fact that korean companies are responsible for keeping those thugs in power who kill millions more people than an amount of us beef imports will

[spliff]

i HOPE IT AFFECTS ME IN BEING ABLE TO BUY BEEF AT CHEAPER PRICES. iS IT ON THE SHELVES YET?

[samd]

STEVE, DID YOU GET BANNED OR JUST DECIDE TO CREATE A NEW PERSONA?

[Dome Vans]

What's all the fuss.

Britain has now gone from having it's markets flooded with cheap meat from Brazil, NZ and America. To people now being aware of the airmiles that food travels. People in England now (with the help of high profile chefs) are paying that little extra to have food that's not flown half way round the world and buying their local produce. Koreans will still buy Korean beef.

The only person who I think will buy the American meat is Spliff, and even then I doubt he'll cook it, he'll just take it out the packet and eat it like a heron.

[Join Me]

It effects my mood and attitude towards Koreans sometimes. Every time Koreans get on one of these ant-foreign whatever kicks they go through one of their periods of being unfriendly...or at least more so than usual. In the last couple of days, now that is almost certain American beef is back, I have noticed people going out of their way to smile and say hello to me on the street though. Could just be the Koreans that recognize these protests don't help improve the image of Korea however.

[spliff]

Laab dip...

[travelingfool]

Hyundai and Kia dealerships sit right along side Ford, Saturn, and Chevy dealerships, in the US that is. Same thing with electronics from Samsung and LG. Heck, I even have a Goldstar air conditioner running in the background as I type. Knowing what I know now about Korea, I would have never have bought any thing made in that place.

Will the FTA finally create a level playing field where US products will have the same access to Korean markets that Korean products in the US now enjoy?

Let the market decide. If the Korean people don't buy American beef it will rot on the shelves and the situation will eventually resolve itself. However, I suspect the frugality of the average Korean will prevail.

[Davew125]

to me it seems to be the age old political tactic. People are a lot easier to govern when they are scared of something. In this case you can can use a misplaced sense of nationalism to cover up your own inadequacies and keep people focused on some benign, irrelevant issue rather than focusing on the 'elephant in the room' - bird flu in korea and thousands of animals being culled, people to the North starving, government and corporate corruption infecting all aspects of korean life to name but a few.

Its seems to be employed the world over. In england the Tabloids have every idiot ( and there are many ) believing that anyone with brown skin is a terrorist and that there 's a paedophile lurking in every playground and outside every school. In Iran their government have created a very 'them against us attitude' with regard to nuclear power, thus covering up a poor economy and other failings.......pick a country and you'll find similar examples

It affects me in the fact that ignorance on this scale really pisses me off, but this whole issue is completely ridiculous and im sure it will pass just as soon as the beef is on the shelves and the government/media can find something else to stir the pig ignorant masses with.......i mean how long can it last? Koreans cant be that stupid, can they??