The taxi driver that set himself on fire to protest against the Korea/America FTA has died of his burns. I only wish he had sought a better means to protest since his death helps no one.
Sphere: Related Content-
Sponsored Links
-
English Books on Korea (and CDs and DVDs, too)
-
Visit My Brother's Film Review Site
-
Flickr Photos
-
Recent Comments
- WangKon936 on Spiking English Teacher Costs, Cheap Gyopo the ‘Next Best Thing,’ and Throw the Sex-Crazed Pot Smokers Out
- Mike McStay on Spiking English Teacher Costs, Cheap Gyopo the ‘Next Best Thing,’ and Throw the Sex-Crazed Pot Smokers Out
- aaronm on Spiking English Teacher Costs, Cheap Gyopo the ‘Next Best Thing,’ and Throw the Sex-Crazed Pot Smokers Out
- WangKon936 on So Much for the Fifth Column…
- WangKon936 on US Cows Protest KORUS FTA
- aaronm on Spiking English Teacher Costs, Cheap Gyopo the ‘Next Best Thing,’ and Throw the Sex-Crazed Pot Smokers Out
- judge judy on Spiking English Teacher Costs, Cheap Gyopo the ‘Next Best Thing,’ and Throw the Sex-Crazed Pot Smokers Out
- hitest on Spiking English Teacher Costs, Cheap Gyopo the ‘Next Best Thing,’ and Throw the Sex-Crazed Pot Smokers Out
- hitest on Spiking English Teacher Costs, Cheap Gyopo the ‘Next Best Thing,’ and Throw the Sex-Crazed Pot Smokers Out
- mateomiguel on Spiking English Teacher Costs, Cheap Gyopo the ‘Next Best Thing,’ and Throw the Sex-Crazed Pot Smokers Out
- MrMao on Spiking English Teacher Costs, Cheap Gyopo the ‘Next Best Thing,’ and Throw the Sex-Crazed Pot Smokers Out
- hitest on Don’t Watch Gay Porn — It’ll Make You Gay
- The Goat on So Much for the Fifth Column…
- The Goat on So Much for the Fifth Column…
- cmm on So Much for the Fifth Column…
-
Most Popular Posts
- So, This is Probably Why English Teachers Shouldn't Post Photos of Themselves with Club Chicks
- Lee Pani Releases More Photos
- Candlelight Rallies are Back
- Open Thread #49
- Tragic Death in Daegu
- Cool Heads Prevail at the Chosun in US Beef Editorial
- Lee Pa-ni selected Korea's second Playboy model
- Open Thread #48
- KoAm Housewives Warn Motherland Against US Beef
- Koreans have a "beef" against Korean-Americans?
-
Archives
-
Meta
30 Comments
I don’t understand why a taxi driver would kill himself over FTA. I mean… a taxi driver?!
I am surprised that a taxi driver would feel his sacrifice would contribute to any meaningful change. I can see being despondent over a break-even existence, but come on! I can only imagine the pain this man went through. What a senseless waste of life. It is shameful, not noble.
This FTA was doomed since the november elections. He didn’t just die in vain having not affected anything, he died in vain having already won, its just
A) the Korean media either didn’t know to report the democratic congresses long standing objections to the FTA
B) the Korean media knew and elected not to report the fact for the ratings.
(C- I’m wrong and the democratic congress’s objections aren’t that certain)
Sad. He probably had little if any working knowledge about any of the realities of the FTA.
B, with elements of C.
actually, guys, i think if you go back to the original news coverage you’ll find that the driver was a loner who got involved in citizens’ action groups and was convinced by the teachings, just like those who are pro-free trade are convinced about the correctness of their side.
having “little if any working knowledge about the realities of the FTA” is not uncommon. and, most interestingly, right around the same time that the FTA deal was being reached here in Seoul, the Wall Street Journal ran an article about Alan Binder a fairly high profile rah-rah free-trade economist who has begun to question his free-trade religion that he has espoused for the past few decades. In other words, they’re starting to wonder if, aside from the notion that there are always winners and losers, there are in fact very asymetrical gains and that simply opening up, as many of them have urged governments to do for decades now, could in fact cause serious and irreparable damage to economies in the long run.
I read somewhere shortly after this happened that this man hadn’t been a taxi driver all his life but was actually a former farmer which makes his actions a little understandable in light of the US-ROK FTA.
He apparently was also an active member of a civic group which was very outspoken against the FTA to begin with. I can’t remember where I read this but he wasn’t a random taxi driver and didn’t set himself on fire as a taxi driver but as a failed former farmer who felt he had already been screwed over enough from my understanding.
for those with a subscription, see:
Pain From Free Trade
Spurs Second Thoughts
Mr. Blinder’s Shift
Spotlights Warnings
Of Deeper Downside
By DAVID WESSEL and BOB DAVIS
March 28, 2007; Page A1
Teaser:
For decades, Alan S. Blinder — Princeton University economist, former Federal Reserve Board vice chairman and perennial adviser to Democratic presidential candidates — argued, along with most economists, that free trade enriches the U.S. and its trading partners, despite the harm it does to some workers. “Like 99% of economists since the days of Adam Smith, I am a free trader down to my toes,” he wrote back in 2001.
Politicians heeded this advice and, with occasional dissents, steadily dismantled barriers to trade. Yet today Mr. Blinder has changed his message — helping lead a growing band of economists and policy makers who say the downsides of trade in today’s economy are deeper than they once realized.
The guy was a trade unionist and a DLP member, so he was part of the myopic “progressive” crew:
http://english.yna.co.kr/Engne.....351E0.html
There’s talk that the U.S. wants to redo parts of the FTA and S.K. is against it, however this could be S.K. gov’t propaganda.
That said, he still maintains support for free-trade, (as do i, incidentally) but he is pushing for a more nuanced understanding and recognition of the adjustments required.
and to bring it back to the taxi driver, if we paid more than lip-service attention to the losers of free trade, then maybe they wouldn’t burn themselves.
Economic theory makes my head hurt but there was an interesting commentary in the FT recently that called for bringing back a “Bretton Woods system” of trade policy in dealing with developed/developing trade pacts:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3d7e8e.....10621.html
mjw, et al,
It really doesn’t matter whether he was right or wrong in his views about the FTA, he was wrong to set himself on fire. Whether he knew it or not, his life was worth living.
Someguy…
I wasn’t making any judgement about the correctness of his views. In fact, I began by pointing out the same thing that you pointed out. and then, i shifted into econ theory mode which, as michael mentioned, made my head hurt.
time for bed, i suppose.
Believe it or not, some people are planning suicide for other reasons, while hoping that in some way or another their death could make a difference, and it just happens that an opportune moment occurs which casts their death in the limelight.
mjw,
I call bullshit for the most part. My first comment was based on the fact that most protesters know fuck all about the real or specific issues that they protest. This goes double for the ‘extreme’ ends of the protest culture.
Secondly, I am in the camp that the protests are not anti-FTA - just that they are anti-USA. Most people don’t even know (nor care) that Korea has been engaged in FTA talks with other countries and wishes to initiate more.
actually i wasn’t making a judgement statement either in regards to the man but rather trying to put the story into context since the linked article didn’t do that.
goat, as for this being “not anti-FTA” but “anti-USA”, i beg to differ. when korea was in FTA talks with Chile a few years ago, there were similar protests against that as well from farmers and civic groups. sure, i suppose there are some “anti-USA” feelings involved here, but i don’t think that is solely the case.
anyway, as we can see, the FTA with Chile was not the end of the world for Korea. maybe people will realize the same thing stands with the US.
I remember the protests about the Chile FTA, however they did not receive the same coverage nor were the protests of the same magnitude.
Those people were mainly those with vested interests (mainly domestic grape growers iirc) - not the opportunist, effigy burning, do-it-because-it’s-cool group.
A good example was a link to Moxie from LTG which can be seen here:
http://moxie.nu/moveabletype/archives/003625.php
@jodi:
Except that Korea did not perceive Chile to be as economically developed a nation as Korea itself, so there were far fewer protests and none of them referenced “neo-colonialism”, “U.S.-hegemonism”, “imperialism” and the like. In contrast, these FTA negotiations were the perfect cover to express underlying anti-U.S. sentiment.
@mark:
I think you are exactly right.
Why did he set himself on fire?
Dogbertt and goat, so do you think such reactions are all done SOLELY out of anti-US sentiments vs protectionist feelings???
The Goat said
I would have to agree somewhat with this statement, even if it did come from a talking goat
The reported complete absence of vitriol and “save-our-country” bile regarding a FTA with China is telling, even though China now could really put Korean farmers in a serious bind, not to mention China’s claims on the natural resources of Korea’s (North Korea) and their disingenuous claims to Korean territory and history.
The very groups in South Korea that have protested a Korean/American FTA are now silent. This, in effect, demonstrates that the nationalism displayed by the KTCU and DLP is more Chinese than Korean.
Well, R.Elgin, China is Korea’s “older brother,” not to mention it would not hesitate to kick Korea’s ass in a trade dispute as it showed in the “garlic war” a few years ago. So it commands a bit more deference than the old whipping boy, the U.S.
There was some “neo-colonialism,” “imperialist hegemony” rhetoric in the FTA protests that just kind of blur into the general anti-American sentiment here.
It would be foolish to say that the protests are solely the result of anti-American feelings - just as it would be foolish to flip that statement.
I am saying that the basis for the protests and concern were there (and could be justified pending your particular leaning) but the driving force that increased their scale and publicity could care less about the farmers (the main focus of the protests) 95% of the time.
In regards to China, there (finally) appears to be some concern
http://times.hankooki.com/lpag.....511870.htm
Will be interesting to see how the public reacts to the much bigger (agricultural) threat that is China - where Korea has been notoriously submissive in the past.
Jodi wrote:
Solely out of anti-US sentiments, no.
I do believe that protectionism was a big driving force, one that would not be unique to Korea, of course.
However, looking at photos of anti-FTA demonstrations, marches, etc. I notice the same “usual suspects” (the wacky priest, the hanbok guy, etc.) who are always at the front of any anti-U.S. demonstration.
I doubt they were leading any anti-Chile FTA demonstrations, however.
Like you, I was also present here when the Chile FTA was being negotiated and I do not recall protests (much less news coverage) that approached the level seen recently.
About anti-Americanism and this FTA.
I’ve been very impressed with the fact no one I know opposed to the FTA with USA is suggesting the US is forcing this on the Korean Colony.
I’m sure there are exceptions, but I just don’t hear it as much as I would’ve expected even just a few years back.
That is, those who are opposed and express anti-American sentiment right now seem to focus that on what unprotected sex with the US might do to Korea. They don’t seem to be suggesting Korea couldn’t say “no,” and that however dangerous it might be that it wouldn’t be consensual. It seems to me that everyone is recognizing that Korea has a choice. IMHO this in itself is a very significant development - progress as far as healthy debate in Korea is concerned, if you ask me.
^
That probably has something to do with the fact that Roh, despite his perceived anti-Americanism, supported the FTA.
If it were GNP that was pursuing the FTA, the whole “we’re submitting ourselves to evil US empire” argument would sound suddenly much more plausible to many Koreans.
At first it seemed surprising that Roh would even entertain the thought of an FTA with the U.S., then I remembered that he said something to the effect that when he saw how much business Korean companies were doing in Russia he realized how important it was to Korea. I think it was like a “satori” to him. So he does deserve credit for understanding that a nation as dependent on exports as Korea needs FTAs and going up against his own support base to see this one through.
goat and dogbertt,
thanks for your comments. actually, i was reacting to the statement that this was not an anti-fta but an anti-us issue which i still disagree with, however, in light what i’m reading i think it is safe to say that this is both an anti-fta and anti-US thing…
to claim it as being only an anti-us thing as i had (mis?) understood goat’s comment to mean seemed unfair/inaccurate considering the strong protecionist sentiments also involved in this issue.
actually, i was reacting to the statement that this was not an anti-fta but an anti-us issue which i still disagree with, however, in light what i’m reading i think it is safe to say that this is both an anti-fta and anti-US thing…”
I tend to agree that it is both. Strange how both the KCTU and the DLP tend to involve themselves in all things anti-American. I find it cheapens what may be some reasonable concerns that farmers and other workers may have about their job prospects, or that ordinary citizens - ie. the ones who actually live near the Hump - might have with base relocation. Just a personal take.
Funny how the same high profile protesters can be found downtown protesting the FTA and in Pyeongtaek protesting the base relocation. This includes the deceased, who was active in the latter protest too, not to mention the fact that he included a reference to the death of the middle school girls in Uijeongbu in June, 2002 in his suicide note (though he incorrectly gives the year as 2003).
Anyway, if you go to the KCTU website you can see a photo of Brother Heo (Huh) posing with his picket, apparently taken the night before his self-immoliation. I like to think that nobody knew of his plans, but the photo reminds me of these farewell videos that members of Hamas and other organization make before they go out in a blaze of glory. I get the distinct impression that the KCTU doesn’t feel all that bad about people sacrificing themselves for the cause.
It seems his occupation or former occupation has nothing to do with why he did this.