Mad Cow Mess

There's more dissent brewing in Seoul...and more danger?
Protesters are still staging candlelit vigils against Lee Myung-bak and his conservative government. Protesters are still clashing with police. But now, it seems like more people are getting hurt. What do they need to control the situation?
The clergy? Um, I don't know if that's the answer....For a brief, very superficial update on events in Seoul: Lee Myung-Bak's government is importing the US beef and there are lots news segments on TV about government inspectors looking at the beef at concluding that it is, indeed, safe. Yet many average people are still angry. But, life goes on, and it seems that people outside of Seoul have stopped protesting.
BUT, the people who are still protesting against the government have staged more intense, and occasionally, violent protests. Issues are intertwining:trade groups at candlelight vigils against the Lee government are protesting everything from Beef importation, to worker's rights, to health care regulations. So the government, and the young recruits drafted onto the police force, have "clamped down." And citizens have started getting hurt. One obnoxious (or drunk?) man in the crowd provokes a police man-and things can turn ugly pretty fast.
The Korean papers even reported that a 25 year old American citizen just watching a rally was accidentally hurt by police last week. Police moved to "subdue" some rowdy protesters and the poor guy accidentally got hit in the face and body by a riot police shield (readers note-maybe the week when Internet headlines read "Protests Get Violent" is not the time to stand around and watch the protests, OK?). Amnesty International issued a statement saying that they would assign a researcher to look into recent police violence against protesters in South Korea. A.I. is concerned. Hmm. That's never a good sign....
Yet, die hard groups like the "People's Countermeasure Council Against Mad Cow Disease" show no signs of giving up yet. So, who's next to jump into the fray? The Clergy.
I was away this past weekend, so I am still catching up on the news. And to be one hundred percent honest, so many issues are involved in the candlelit vigils now that it's getting a little hard for a foreigner to follow. But apparently, some clergy members recently held "emergency masses" in support of the protesters' right to speak out against the government. Also, the Korea Times reports that "members of the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice" are going on a hunger strike in a tent in front of Seoul City Hall "...demanding renegotiation of the beef deal between Seoul and Washington." Buddhist groups are also protesting. The involvement of Christian groups may put some extra pressure on the government: President Lee-Myung Bak presents himself as an active Christian, and he remains an elder of Somang Presbyterian Church in Seoul.
So, in with the diehards, the thugs, the riot police, the trade unions, and the clergy....there may soon be...the foreigners?? There is reputedly going to be a protest against the current protests...i.e. a protest in FAVOR of the US-ROK free trade agreement and against the most radical folks, like the members of the "People's Countermeasure Council Against Mad Cow Disease" this upcoming weekend. Two words: Oye vaye. Who knows how much of a real protest it will be and how much is just an Internet tempest in a teapot.
IMHO:the last thing Americans need is even one or two Americans getting hurt (by cops, by opposing protesters) at an anti-demonstration demonstration. Or even if they are in reality Canadians, or English people at said anti-protest protest, W20,000 says that the Korean language papers will allege that they are Americans...
So, I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens with the Seoul rallies. And Seoul counter-rallies. And rallies against the counter-rallies. Have a headache yet? :)
Near city hall in Seoul, it could be a long, confusing summer...
All this political turmoil makes me want some Korean "pop-ping-su," or yummy sweet bean and fruit ice slush. It's a cross between slush and fruit salad. I'm not sure I spelled that right, but pop ping su rocks! :)