Former AMCHAM boss and now Korean citizen Jeffrey Jones cited US beef and Lone Star as examples of Koreans letting passion and emotionalism get the best of them:
A noted American lawyer said Korea needs to create a country ruled by law and rationality, not by passion and emotionalism, if it wants to join the league of advanced countries.
In a recent interview with The Korea Times, Jeffrey Jones, a naturalized Korean who headed the American Chamber of Commerce Korea (AmCham), citied two cases — American beef imports and the Lone Star case — as examples that show passion, emotionalism and negative public opinion taking precedence over rationality, science, fact and law in Korea.
Surprisingly, Jones stood by the President Lee Myung-bak’s decision on the beef issue, saying, “President Lee absolutely made the right decision on the issue because American beef is not going to harm Korean consumers.”
Why that would be “surprising,” I don’t know, given what Jones had said earlier in the story and his former position as AMCHAM chairman. “Surprising” would be an entire nation taking Internet rumors and erroneous press reports and going so completely ape shit as to threaten the single most important trade agreement in the country’s history.
But that’s just me.
As messed up as things may be, I do try to look at things positively — at least crowds aren’t going around trying to lynch Westerners because of rumors that they’re kidnapping Korean babies to make photo emulsion fluid from their eyeballs. And that’s an improvement, right?
Coincidentally, Jones is called a “Korean with blue eyes” NOT because of his special interest and affection toward Korea (which he has, no doubt), but rather because, well, he’s a Korean national with blue eyes.
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Well, if Koreans aren’t going around trying to lynch Westerners because of rumors that they’re kidnapping Korean babies to make photo emulsion fluid from their eyeballs, then who IS? I’d like to know.
What’s “surprising” about Sidney Greenstreet manque’s position is that he has been notorious proponent of Korean interests in opposition to the interests of those, at least until his recent conversion change in citizenship, he was, e.g., in his former position as chairman of AMCHAM, supposed to faithfully represent. It’s very interesting that The Korea Times picked up on this while so many of his former constituents were so sheepishly unaware of it.
Evidently colored contact lenses are all the rage in Seoul, since everyone with interest and affection toward Korea is now known as “a Korean with blue eyes,” at least according to the article.
So, anyone know why Jeffrey Jones would change his nationality after heading AMCham here? Seems kind of odd. I wonder if it’s related to limits on property ownership or some other financial motivation.
“kidnapping Korean babies to make photo emulsion fluid from their eyeballs”
You can do that with eyeballs? Huh. The Hole is nothing if not informative.
We here at the Marmot’s Hole take great pride in our informative content
The really big financial opportunities (graft and otherwise) are for current and former government officials. LMB has made noises about employing “the best” foreign candidates as government officials and advisors — but they would be limited to sub-ministerial rank. Only Korean citizens can serve as government ministers. I am sure that Jeff, who is quite fond of proximity to power and surely doesn’t like money any less than the rest of us, is signalling his availability for such a senior appointment by this acquisition of Korean nationality.
Otherwise, why do it after already being here 30 years?
But his new young sons (
same age aslittler than my kids, despite the 20-year age gap) are US citizens, which can be a liability for Korean politicians. I think the Jeff Shock! reported in the Korean paper (“Even Jeffrey Jones’ kids get waitlisted at oversubscribed foreign schools!”) may have been related to the lower admissions priority prescribed by Korean law for children of Korean elites who “just happen” to hold a foreign nationality.Jones may be more like me. Western mind, Korean heart.
“photo emulsion fluid”
From Korean babies? Balderdash!
That’s what old horses are for!
Jones hit all of his points nicely. Investors will not put-up with the “I’ll sit down in the boxing ring because I don’t like the ruling” a la 1988 Olympics any longer. There are too many other places of interest like India and China. The arrogance of Koreans and Korea will not be tolerated on a world stage. Lee needs to continue to stand firm against the farmer minority. They will throw bags of rice at City Hall; they will throw beef bones too. President Lee, ignore them when they sit down in the middle of the boxing ring. You are a good statesman, hold your head high.
Jones may have hit the points nicely, but in the Korea Times, all he’s doing is preaching to the converted. The local language press is allergic to constructive introspection.
#10 very true!
If it is only printed in the English media, then the exremely large majority of locals never get wind of it. Therefore, it doesn’t count!
Brendon, are you sure Mr J has become Korean? I wonder if the paper got that wrong. He may have been waitlisted at the school because one of the two spouses is Korean and foreign-foreign couples take precendence.
Good question — Mr. J was a US citizen as of June 2005:
http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=102&oid=028&aid=0000115527
And I didn’t see any reports that he’d officially defected, so I’d say the paper got it wrong.
Maik-uk — Believe it or not, I don’t spend all my time on Jeff Watch!™ (Why should I, when AmCham has an entire magazine devoted to that — and you can subscribe for only $800 a year.) Whether or not he’s become a Korean citizen is something I only stumbled across today, here.
#10, #11,
Trust me his words will be translated. His words will only prove to embolden the National Tax auditors who are raking his books over at Kim and Chang.
Would that be you, Brendon?
That’s true for native Koreans, but probably not a problem for a naturalized Korean like Jeffrey.
Love the whole sniping tone of your post, Brendon. You are one catty b*tch.
And don’t take that the wrong way. I enjoy listening to someone extend their claws and take a few swipes.
I’m trying to figure out whether an idea I had the other day regarding the root cause of such frantic responses was a valid one. The idea is that the hysterical responses are almost always connected to the parental instinct – Evil foreign English teachers who corrupt/hurt/rape their children, poisoned U.S. beef that will melt their children’s brains – even that Korean American group that spoke out against U.S. beef was a maternal-based organization (if I remember correctly). With the societal mandate that children (which does not have a specific age-cap… I’ve seen it extend up to 25) are completely helpless and must be dependent on their parents, this may explain some of the emotionalism observed in the past. Lol… even the eyeball thing involves children. (IMO, children’s eyeballs should be used as dietary supplement for those of us who have bad visions. Photo emulsion fluid is a waste of a perfectly good eyeball (no offense, any photographers out there). What were those Westerners thinking?!)
Who really cares about this washed up attorney has to say. Perhaps there was a time in Korea where a foreigner spoke Korean and had something to say meant something. It seems that Mr. Jones talent was not his legal abilities nor his intellectual acumen, but rather his ability to speak Korean and understand and navigate Korean culture.
On another note, perhaps Korea does not want to join the advanced nations, Korea seems to want to enjoy the benefits of being advanced but without the responsibilities that come with it.
One wonders if the eyeball thing isn’t just another really wimpy blood-libelmade up by the underfed Juche squads in Pyongyang–or maybe the author’s girl was caught in flagrante delicto with a foreign English teacher who worked at a photo shop and liked beef?
@2: Very good point. This was of course discussed sotto voce among many AmCham members going back many years, but never publicly, for whatever reason. I personally always felt it was somewhat of the 600 lb. elephant in the room, if you’ll pardon the allusion.
This was not my post. It was Robert’s. I don’t have any gripe against Jeffrey Jones except for the fact that he’s somehow seduced the whole AmCham organization into being about his golf tournament and bullshit foundation.
I like the fact that he’s in his 50s and has two little boys on top of the five grown kids he had earlier. If I had enough money I would love to have a full house; my oldest daughter Deborah is going to be 11 this fall and I think the days of her childish exuberance may be giving way to eye-rolling exasperation.
I meant “comment,” not “post,” as in comments #6 and #14. I wasn’t being facetious. I like your cattiness. Keep working hard, and maybe someday, you can trade in your present spouse for a fecund trophy wife.
“…Korea needs to create a country ruled by law and rationality, not by passion and emotionalism, if it wants to join the league of advanced countries.”
So no more Million Coon Marches?
If Koreans overcame emotionalism, and started to be logical and rational thinkers, they would’nt be Korean anymore.
Too bad Jeffrey Jones doesn’t post here – that’d be a kick.
AMCHAM is all about the big mucky mucks, and our hero here is mucky muck #1, having a good time with visiting dignitaries not fit for the unwashed masses who actually pay the vast majority of dues. At least that’s the image the AMCHAM Journal does its best to portray.
Dogbert, I’ve sometimes thought the same thing.
I take the word “surprisingly” in the article as meaning: “Surprisingly, unlike almost every other Korean, naturalized or not, he didn’t fall for the mass hypnosis perpetrated by the doom monger puppet masters.”
hardyandtiny — Million “Coon” Marches? WTF, Tiny?
Yeah, but that’s the way of the world.
Jones is not the number one at AMCHAM. Boeing President William Oberlin is. Jones exploits his past roles and has a pathological need to wear the robes once more. That being said, I could care less what the cigarette smoking, booze swilling Mormon is, his words in the interview should resonate to all logical thinking people. Partners for the future, face on Lotte gum wrapper… that’s laughable.
Brendon knows it to the contrary.
J. Jones keeps his nationality of USA. His 2 sons had dual nationalities but they have been Koreans by giving up the citizenship of USA.
Refer to this,
http://hani.co.kr/section-004000000/2005/06/004000000200506171809754.html
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