News Updates, June 4   2008-06-04 01:59

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food (MAFF) has announced yesterday (June 3) that it would reconsider the import of U.S. beef cut from cattle more that 30 months old, as well as a few other "special risk materials". As the U.S. seems unwilling to revisit the deal that was reached in April, it is unclear whether the Korean government's request will be honored. The Korean government has got itself in a very sticky situation. The deal it made with the U.S. in April was a deal it should never have made in the first place. At least not without making sure that the People supported it, which we don't.

It has been raining in Seoul for two days straight, but candlelight vigils continue as usual. 20,000 people gathered in raincoats to protest the brutality committed by the police. It would be a big mistake if the government thinks it can make us go home by offering to revisit the problem of U.S. beef. That was one of the issues that made us come together in the first place; but now we face threats many times greater than BSE, namely, the violent manner in which the government has treated us, the People, the Masters of this country. Our pickets now call for the resignation of Uh Chung-Soo, the police chief responsible for the brutal suppression of peaceful demonstrations. The police has also been targeting those of us who have started websites and online forums on the issue, and this we also consider a grave violation of our freedoms.

Candlelight vigils are being held not only in Seoul and Busan but also by good citizens of the Republic of Korea who are currently residing abroad. Protests have taken place in London, Paris, and a couple of locations in the United States. We hope these protests bring to the attention of the international community the terrible situation we are in. BBC and CNN have already taken notice of what's going on in Seoul, but most other foreign media seem to be uninterested. Please spread the word. We might have more democracy than China, Myanmar, and North Korea; but we still have a long way to go, so any help would be appreciated.

One great thing about grassroots movements like this is that there is never a show of false gravity. Our candlelight vigils started as a festival to celebrate liberty, and we are still thoroughly enjoying every moment of it (except those moments when we're being beaten up). Some people felt the need for joke, so they hacked the official website of the President's Hannara Party, as well as the website of a police team, a member of which was seen beating and cursing an innocent citizen. (The latter is still down, so the link is to its screenshot of it when it was hacked. The page shows a bear, with the words "Don't beat me, it hurts! Go catch the President instead!")

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