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A massive protest organized by the People¡¯s Association for Measures Against Mad Cow Disease was held in Seoul on Saturday. Religious groups including Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists and Won Buddhists, as well as the opposition United Democratic Party, Democratic Labor Party, New Progressive Party and Renewal of Korea Party took part. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and university students also showed up. Protests have been going on for two months now, with participants claiming that eating U.S. beef leads to death by variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), or the human form of mad cow disease. Over the last two months, anybody who is anybody has joined in the protests, and just about every imaginable act of violence has been committed.
It¡¯s about time the protests came to an end. People in around a hundred countries eat U.S. beef every day, including Americans and Europeans. Most people around the world consume U.S. beef from cattle aged 30 months or older, but nowhere do you see mad cow hysteria or protests. If you ask people in other countries right now whether they believe eating American beef will cause them to come down with vCJD, they will say you must be out of your mind.
A former presidential candidate of the opposition left for the United States a few days ago, where he plans to stay for more than a year. The leading candidates who vied for the top UDP spot in the party¡¯s election convention on Sunday lived in the U.S. until recently. If what the protesters are saying is correct, then one of the UDP¡¯s candidates must have had a death wish and the other candidate should be dropping dead from vCJD soon. It¡¯s all nonsense.
A few days ago, one civic group that was believed to have more common sense announced it would take part in the mad cow protests. At least its members did not carry signs saying ¡°mad cow disease.¡± Most of the protesters must know that the notion is ridiculous, but the PAMAMCD has succeeded by leading the protests this far based on such nonsense.
But in the shadow of that success, the traders and residents of downtown Seoul are crying out for help. Mad cow disease is not even a topic of concern for Korea¡¯s business leaders: far more serious problems face the country. One businessman said just 1,000 unsold homes translates into hundreds of billions of won in losses for construction companies, and right now builders in Korea are left with many thousands of unsold homes. He said Korea will feel the full blast of the real bomb that is ticking away behind their backs as they are fixated on the candlelight protests. The monthly interest on mortgages has soared past 9 percent and consumer prices are increasing faster than growth, leading to a sharp gain in household debt. Middle-class families are being driven to the edge and the entire economy may end up being shaken to its foundations. Prices of crude oil, grain, iron ore and other raw materials are rising to ever-new highs. And now, the fluctuation of the Korean won against the U.S. dollar is mimicking patterns seen before the Asian financial crisis.
Amid these dangerous developments, we see thousands of people, including innocent children, making a great song and dance downtown about how U.S. beef will cause vCJD. A major force in the protests is the KCTU, which is saying laborers can¡¯t work if they catch vCJD and has vowed to hold strikes that damage production.
How much longer are these forces going to enjoy the mad cow festival while their country is being driven closer to the brink? It is time for everyone to worry about reality.
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