Large protests against the importation of American
beef have been going on in Seoul for the last couple
of weeks. Plans to reopen the beef trade in accordance
to the american FTA agreement have come to a grinding
halt because of escalating opposition which has
recently turned violent. Nearly 50,000 protesters were
greeted with water canons as they rallied in front of
Seoul city hall last night. American beef was halted
from entering the country 4 years ago because of fears
of mad cow disease. Actual instances of mad cow have
yet to be reported, however fear and rumors have been
spreading like wildfire.
With no real danger of mad cow disease one has to
wonder "what is all this madness about"? Korea imports
Australian beef with no worries. Is it based on
mistrust of America? Or is it public manipulation by
farm lobbyists to protect the Korean beef industry
from cheaper imports?
Check out this video from the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7429726.stm
