What's the beef?

I'm sure you've all heard about the huge protests against American beef here in Korea. We saw some of the protesters on Saturday morning, July 7th, where they had camped out overnight. It was difficult to understand what the big deal was, since there were only 3 cases total of mad cow disease in the U.S., and that was back in 2004. However, Koreans I've talked to as well as newspaper coverage says that the issue is really unhappiness with their new president, Lee Myung-bak, whose popularity ratings here are lower than George Bush's in the U.S. The former CEO of Hyundai Construction, he is perceived as being dictatorial and caving in to U.S. pressure, among other problems. The rallies seem to have taken on a life of their own, with people continuing to get together to protest even though Lee's ministers have all resigned and the trade deal is being renegotiated.

One thing I've been impressed with here is how active people seem to be about issues they care about. The anti-U.S.-beef protest is only one of the public displays of opinion about many different topics, including religion. About 25% of Koreans are Christian, and they are very active in proselyting. One morning there were a few people with signs and a loudspeaker handing out literature in front of the subway station. Later that same day a young woman who spoke perfect English approached me in the mall and wanted to give me a copy of Awake magazine. I've yet to meet any Mormon missionaries, however. Yesterday there was a full band from some Christian denomination performing for passersby in front of one of the large shopping centers. The society is very dynamic in comparison with the U.S.