American Press Takes Notice, But...   2008-06-07 06:12

TIME ran an insightful story today about the trouble which President Lee Myung-Bak has brought upon himself. We are in total agreement with TIME's observation that Lee is trying to proceed in a style that would have worked 20 years ago, but not now. But TIME's interview with Lee is troubling. Lee is reported to have said that he completely understands why we, the People, are protesting against his policies. But given everything that we've seen on the streets of Seoul over the last two weeks, we have no choice but to believe that Lee doesn't actually understand anything. As the President of a democratic state, he should respect and listen to the People's voice. He shouldn't be using his power to pressure the media and web portals to censor information he finds uncomfortable. His prime minister shouldn't be making statements about how the public is too stupid to understand the issues at hand. If he really understood why we're holding these candlelight protests, he should have yielded to our voice. He is our servant, not our lord. Stubbornness and contempt of one's masters are by no means a servant's virtues.

The New York Times also ran a story today about our protests. Unfortunately, the story characterizes our struggle as if it was all and only about the import of U.S. beef. (The same is true of the TIME story.) Granted, it is true that the issue of beef trade has triggered the recent protests, and the reconsideration of the deal with the U.S. remains an important part of our demand. But as we have emphasized in this blog a number of times, the People of Korea now have more than beef to be concerned about. The government has responded with violence to our peaceful protests, sending hundreds of innocent citizens to hospitals. The government is also pressuring the media and even Internet portals to censor opinions critical of its position. Our concern is about DEMOCRACY and HUMAN RIGHTS as much as it is about food safety, the Grand Canal, and the proposed privatization of public amenities.

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