32'd3735928559 ???

Source: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/shim_jae_hoon/2008/06/south_koreas_real_beef.html#comments

SEOUL - By apologizing for mishandling the beef import issue with the United States, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak has averted a major political crisis that threatened to undermine the stability of his young administration. In a nationally televised speech on Thursday, he promised to ban imports of American beef from cattle older than 30 months of age, accepting the argument that younger cattle are less prone to mad cow disease, and therefore safer for Korean consumers.

But whether this new import rule, subject to agreement with the U.S., will end many weeks of street protests in Seoul remains doubtful. Underlying the recent political unrest are a variety of factors, including Lee’s controversial leadership style. The concern over mad cow disease may certainly be genuine, but as demonstrators freely concede, it has also been useful as a cover for expressing other discontents.

One of them is President Lee’s propensity to make decisions based on consultation among his narrow circle of advisors. He lifted the ban on American beef imports in April, imposed since the 2003 outbreak of the mad cow disease in the U.S., on the spur of the moment, his critics say, on the eve of visit to Washington for a highly publicized meeting with US President George W. Bush. That speedy decision, reportedly made without much consultation outside the government (the strong farm lobby, for example) triggered the feeling that he was pushing his political agenda by risking consumer safety. With his judgment now in doubt, his leadership as president has been considerably weakened.

Next was the quality of people he picked for his first cabinet, which critics promptly labeled a “rich men’s club” of officials holding a large sum of assets in land and housing, reportedly acquired through speculation. Their image as members of the privileged establishment, rich and well-connected (some were attacked for dodging Korea’s compulsory military service,) provoked particular resentment in the center-left constituency of the underprivileged and unionized workers.

Faced with mounting attacks, Lee has promised to replace some senior officials, severely damaging their reputations. President Lee has been so shaken by the backlash against his appointees that he has pledged to choose cabinet members from among those holding less than a billion won (US$1 million) in assets. Judging people by this standard of wealth, his cabinet could very well be empty.

Public resentment against rich officials –- especially the perception that their wealth could have been built via illegitimate, if not illegal, means — clouds the outlook on Lee’s otherwise legitimate policy goals, such as his campaign pledge to boost the sagging economy through tax cuts and deregulation. And yet, Lee’s business-friendly policy has been roundly denounced as a pro-chaebol policy favoring big business conglomerates at the expense of workers and small businesses. The center-left views this as a ploy to roll back its own reform plank achieved under the previous regime, such as equity-based distribution and egalitarian educational benefits.

How all this plays out in the months ahead should be of more crucial concern than the issue of American beef, which at most amounts to US$800 million a year. With so much passion pouring out on the street, and the opposition United Democratic Party fanning the flame, South Korean exporters must now risk a potential trade backlash from the U.S., which imported 700,000 Korean cars last year against exports of 5,000 U.S. cars to Korea, (along with electronics and other manufactures.) Emotions on the Capitol Hill have been so fired up, too, that Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Hillary Clinton have all attacked Korea’s closed market, vowing to oppose the congressional passage of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade agreement signed last year.

Thus the beef issue throws a long shadow onto the future of bilateral trade. With President Lee now appearing to put his reform program on the back burner to recover his political peace, he is facing another wave of criticism, this time from the conservative business community, on his faltering leadership. His political compromise on reform, as well as on beef imports, presage a rough ride for the next five years under his government.

My comment:

There are so many factors in play here.

Korean side:
1) President Lee played a dumb game. Even though he calculated numbers (profits FTA can bring, # of jobs, etc) well as he built his career out of doing that, he misjudged the dynamics of trade and international politics, not to mention his own domestic politics. This is an election year in U.S. with a majority of Democrats in Congress. Democrats are not going to risk the election by ratifying dubious FTA’s with Korea and Columbia. The waning Bush Administration in the last year of 2nd term will have no power over putting the bill on the Congress floor. We have seen bills such as farm bill are overwhelming Bush’s vetoes. There is a clear power shift in U.S. Mr. Lee did not even consider. Maybe he thought he could rush things as he has done just as in his mayoral time but this is the major league of the world, not single-A semi-pros.
2) Mr. Lee’s domestic policies are planned for efficiencies, adopting American business models. He views government entities are wasteful at best and by privatizing them the country would be better off. He is correct in economical term but again he is blind to the human side of governing. Those government entities such as medicare, utilities, etc in Korea are highly unionized as well as provide secure jobs for the employees. No one is willing to give up their safe and high paying jobs and with a highly military labor union it’s nearly impossible to break them. America has those powerful unions everywhere (UAW, Teacher’s, Nurses, etc) as well. Mr. Lee’s policies make a lot of sense as Korea wants to focus on the growth but his timing and political maneuvering are really horrible. Privatizations will get started some time later in the administration if Mr. Lee can handle the beef situation. If not, he can kiss his task goodbye to Mars. The beef situation is a perfect vehicle for those people can ride along without putting their face on the front pages.
3) Koreans have this sense of pride/inferior complex/defensiveness. They have a history of being hounded by big guys like China, Japan, U.S., Russia, etc. The sense of pride kept them being acquired by bigger guys. Some Koreans compare the situation to Israel (maybe the reason why Christianity is so popular?? although I know Judaism is totally different from Christianity) So they are often very hostile against the pressure or disrespect however you can call it from outside or above. Now Mr. Lee’s government executes the style of the boss who jams the tasks down to the throats of poor employees. There is nothing more offensive to Koreans than being disrespectful. The disrespect, a.k.a hurt the ego, factor pops up in people’s daily conversation. No wonder people are extremely unhappy to have the boss telling them what to do. So there goes why political pandering is not so bad.

U.S. side:
1) Read above Korean side 1). It’s an election year. The focus is in Michigan.
2) How is this Korean beef thing in terms of priorities in U.S? After election, after Iraq, after Afghanistan, after oil, after Israel, after racism, after sexism, after flag pin, after patriotism, after old age, after hummer chevy cadillar SUV’s etc etc… Okay no wonder most Americans don’t have capacity to care this thing unless you are from Cargill, Tyson Foods, or Mr. “you-know-who-got-your-back” Bush.
3) FDA is a crap. Many experts in U.S. agree that FDA is stretched very thin. All the new food outbreaks as well as drug fatalities are bogging down FDA. How likely is that FDA can effectively monitor this situation while Salonella is running wild out there? And informed Americans also know that the U.S. government blocked the attempt by the private company to voluntarily inspect the beef. Why? I don’t know what is cooking inside but it’s not hard to figure out what is at stake, PROFITS.

So there goes a one page term paper on where they are. I see that Koreans are more willing to engage as they think it’s more vital to their life while Americans have a laid back attitude on this issue due to more urgent issues out there. It sure sounds like a lot got done in the past week but if someone is not happy (likely those meat packers in U.S.), this will bring a stalemate and may kill the FTA down the road.