This week’s award goes to Lee Chang-dong, Minister of Culture and Tourism, for this little beauty:
“I think it’s very worrisome and lamentable that some groups have been bothering the sports teams of the participating nations with a succession of acts, using for political purposes what should be a festival of friendship and harmony for all the world’s youth.”
You know, Minister Lee, it is YOUR government that has been using these games for “political purposes” - all these groups are doing is reacting to it. Even before the games started, all I heard was about how these games would help bring about “peace” and “reconciliation.” Even this Universiade’s slogan - “Dream for Unity” - is overtly political, official explanation aside. Having both the North and South Korean teams march in at the same time during the Opening Ceremony, waiving those God awful Unification flags - that wasn’t political? And having the tax payer foot the North’s bill to come here - that wasn’t political? And as an ex-resident of North Kyungsang Province, I’m kind of curious as to whether or not Lee understood that political bullshit like that was bound to piss off a number of the locals - Taegu is, after all, smack dab in the middle of the GNP heartland, and frankly speaking, they don’t like Commies very much in those parts (apologies to OhMyNews, who disagree). But hey, you really can’t let those “poisonous right wing elements” (thanks, Tom Plate) manipulate these games for their own nefarious political purposes, now can you?
Lee later went on to say that it was “we who provided the reason (for the scuffle), and regardless of the attitude of the North, we have to correct what needs to be corrected” (I wonder if he would say the same thing if some GIs attacked a group of peaceful demonstrators?). He also promised to act strongly to ensure that situations that harm the spirit of the games do not happen again.
The fucked up thing is, I rather like Lee as a director - “The Power of Kangwon Province” was a terrific movie which I would have watched even without the film quota.
