A drunk farmer in Yecheon-gun (yes, the place full of Humanistic Sympathy and Crystal Clear Water [Yecheon-gun Homepage]) who was reportedly depressed because of the successful conclusion of KORUS FTA negotiations shot three people he was drinking with an air rifle last night [YTN, Korean], killing one and injuring the other two. Witnesses state he said, “Let’s all die together” before he went to get his rifle, but after the shooting, he apparently had something of a change of heart and fled into the surrounding hillsides, where police are still looking for him.
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…and why isn’t there a section called “Stupid Korean Tricks” yet?
Air rifle? …so there are guns in this country! Albeit not your milita’s AK, but enough to kill obviously…
Yecheon-gun must have been all out of “Humanistic Sympathy” yesterday.
Am I wrong, or isn’t the FTA not really going to do much to change the lot of Korea’s farmers?
Yeah, they can keep on getting drunk and producing the crappiest, most expensive rice in Asia.
Adequate proof, at least for some Koreans I suspect, that the FTA is already killing Korean farmers. I thought that “let’s all die together” line tended to appear more in the context of family suicides, but it would seem just like in those cases, the other participants in the group had no say in the decision. (At least the guy who stabbed himself in Cancun a few years ago didn’t feel the need to take down any other people with him.)
I wonder which brand of Soju he was drinking?
Whether there was an FTA or not, the farmers would have gotten lots of cash from the government. And of course, no matter what, it is never enough, as they are in a doomed industry. Why don’t they start growing corn for ethanol or something?
I personally would like to see some “Stupid White Tricks”.
Go to town. I can’t promise all of them involve white guys, though.
Snow wrote:
“And of course, no matter what, it is never enough, as they (farmers) are in a doomed industry. Why don’t they start growing corn for ethanol or something?”
They need not be. In the 1970s, consumers and farmers in Japan began organizing CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture). Consumers pay a set annual fee, called a share, and receive in return fresh locally grown produce, usually organic or at least grown with sustainable methods. CSA produce is usually picked the day before or even the morning of delivery. It’s like having your own garden without the work! CSAs have spread to other countries, including the United States. The taste and nutritional value of locally grown produce is far, far superior to the factory farm stuff that fills supermarket produce sections. Bottom line: you get what you pay for. I gladly cut corners elsewhere to afford farmers’ market produce and grass-fed meats. What is more important than food which nourishes our bodies? Korean farmers would do well to learn about CSAs, switch to sustainable farming methods if they aren’t using them already, and then they can honestly market their agricultural products as superior and thus worth the higher price. Koreans care very much about nutrition and those can afford it will pay more for better foodstuffs.
Sonagi has an excellent point.
I like Korean fruits and vegetables much more than what I could get back in the U.S. since they taste better and I would buy them sooner, no matter how much cheaper U.S. or Chinese goods are.
@ Sonagi, it’s so sensible it’s bound to be overlooked.
The strawberries, grapes & pears rule. Mulberries are also excellent, but you never see them for sale here; I’ve always had to pick mine. It would also be nice to get a Granny Smith apple. The raspberries are dreadful. Wish I could get snap peas, string beans, blueberries, etc. They’d grow well here.
If Koreans really want to help their farmers they may want to expand their diet beyond the old standards. Every year it’s the same old headline: over production of cabbage and rice.
I agree with Elgin on certain fruits (pears) in Korea but I’m not won over on the veggies, recalling paying like $13 for 3 potatoes and a crappy head of lettuce in 2004.
[DELETED. Reason: Response to Off Topic comment.]
Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I assume that what Bipolar Mindscrew was referring to in the first comment on this post was something that Robert wrote a few days ago on another post:
“If I had a category entitled ‘Stupid Korean Tricks,’ this would certainly qualify….”
Which in turn was an oblique allusion to the fact that there is in fact a “Stupid Foreigner Tricks” category on this blog. If you go through this blog’s archives, I’m quite sure that you will find that the vast majority of posts about some person’s bizarre, embarrassing, and/or irrational behaviour are in fact concerning non-Koreans in Korea, many of whom are white to boot. I’m sorry if that is not satisfactory to you.
There are commenters here who sometimes devolve into base Korea-bashing, and that is reprehensible and racist. And yes, I agree with you 100% that making lazy stereotypes or generalized characterizations of Koreans is racist. I agree that “Korean” can refer to either a nationality or an ethnicity, and this can and often does lead to great confusion, among both Koreans (by nationality or ethnicity) and non-Koreans (by nationality or ethnicity). What I assume Someguy meant is that in this blog, “Korean” for the most part refers to someone who is a citizen of either South or North Korea (and usually South Korea, without any further qualifiers), although much more often than not, the person or people referred to are also ethnically Korean. (How a naturalized Korean citizen of non-Korean ethnicity would be labelled on this board remains to be seen, though.) Perhaps this is not what he meant and I am overassuming. All the same, none of this excuses in any way the hamfisted way in which you have attempted to make an issue out of ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
I have seen (and purchased) mulberries in Seoul; however, the fruit is so delicate that it does not transport well and most of the flavor disappears quickly after picking.
Dried mulberries are outstanding - crunchy and a little sweet. I don’t know if you can get them in Korea. International markets in the US sometimes carry them.
There’s a farm on the east coast of the U.S. that produces “specialty” pears from Japanese and Korean varieties, and I read it’s very successful. Korean pears are excellent, and some of the farmers should get gov’t support to grow them instead of rice, then band together like Sonagi said and market them overseas. Korean pears could become a well-known brand like Florida oranges. It would really beat clinging onto overpriced, subpar rice production.
Where can I get one of those air rifles? Will they become available with the new trade agreement? Or are they illegal Japanese imports? Was it modified with Japanese or Korean parts. My guess is that it was North Korean…
I would imagine that the average distance and therefore time from harvest to dinner table is much shorter in Korea than it is for many of us here in North America (Californians excepted), at least for various kinds of in-season produce. Could this mean fewer preservatives and whatnot, ergo better tasting fruit? Or am I completely off-base? And what happens in the off season?
michael, Korean pears are increasingly popular in North America, albeit within certain niche markets aimed at serving Asian-North Americans and food connoisseurs.
Korean pears are delicious, but not at $2 or $3 per unit!
Global–I think it’s more labor intensive than other fruit (has to be individually wrapped when growing) which adds to the cost. They’re already exported to the U.S. from Najo so there’s a lot of potential if Korea gets the fruit designated and brands it well.
D’oh! NAJU
All this talk is making me hungry for some juicy Korean pears….
I didn’t think air rifles were legal in S. Korea?