South Koreans are truly incensed that their government refuses to give in to their protests over beef imported from the United States. They have been protesting regularly since April when the government announced it would resume importing beef from the United States after a five-year ban. That ban was instituted over a case of mad cow disease in 2003.
Nothing meaningful has come from these protests. The government is still going to import the beef that their ‘big brother’ the U.S. is basically coercing South Korea to buy. Countless millions of dollars in property damages are being sustained that South Koreans are going to have to pay for to repair through their tax dollars that could and should go to better use.
Sure they essentially paralyzed their government but who did that hurt most, themselves.
More than 100 South Korean protesters were wounded after this latest rally turned ugly as they marched toward the presidential office battling riot police and turning over buses that had been parked around the presidential office to block the marchers from entering.
Why go through the all this trouble and subject themselves to physical injury and/or arrest? The only protest that is truly meaningful is to not buy the beef.
Making and losing money is the only thing governments understand these days. All the deals made between these two governments will collapse if the South Koreans simply refuse to buy the beef.
South Korea is the third-largest market for U.S. beef exporters. Refusing to buy this beef will have another even broader effect. The U.S. cattle industry would be forced to cut back on the number of cattle raised which will in turn reduce the amount of grain required to feed the cattle. Which would ease the pressure somewhat on the world grain market and hopefully help reduce the cost of food.
If you have to protest, please do it more intelligently.
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