The candlelight protests against US beef imports continue — over the last four days, police have arrested 211 individuals. Of these, 76 were freed, while 135 are undergoing investigation.
Police are also looking into whether there are individuals or groups pulling the strings behind the protests. On the other hand, the police have yet actually to put anybody into detention.
The Kyunghyang Shinmun has photos of police arresting some middle school kids, including a middle school girl balling her eyes out and crying, “I want to go home!” Heart-wrenching, really.
Hey, look at the bright side, kid — an hour at the police station is probably better than an hour at the English hagwon.
The Kyunghyang has also uncovered the US plot to reduce Korea into a “consumer of low quality meat,” with the evil US government and livestock industry conspiring to link beef to the FTA.
In fact, it reports, the bad, bad men of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) expects Korea to surpass Japan and Mexico to become the biggest export market for US beef.
Citing a NCBA report on the KORUS FTA exclusively obtained by the Kyunghyang, the paper exposes the plot of “two-faced” US ranchers to take over the Korean beef market:
US ranchers, who have played the role of slander against the conclusion of the KORUS FTA as they claimed there would be no FTA without the complete opening of Korea’s beef market, have changed their basic position 180 degrees since the agreement on beef, and are now actively working for the early ratification of the FTA.
Note to Kyunghyang — that’s not “two-faced,” that’s called failing to see why you should support a “FREE TRADE agreement” with a country that refuses to agree to FREE TRADE.
Anyway, the Yankees had a detailed plan for Korea, including restarting exports of boneless beef from cows under 30 months old, getting a clean bill of health from the OIE, making the full opening of the Korean beef market a condition to FTA ratification, rendering impotent Korea’s strict quarantine measures, and having Korea remove customs and tariffs through the ratification of the FTA (i.e., everything an FTA should, in theory, be about). The Korean government not only failed to see this nefarious scheme, but also permitted the import of beef from cows over 30 months old and gave authority over quarantine to the United States.
How will we ever survive now?
Before the outbreak of Mad Cow Disease in the United States, Korea was the third-largest export market for US beef. The NCBA, though, now thinks Korea will become the largest export market because Japan and Mexico do not for the time being allow the import of beef from cows over 30 months old. Accordingly, concludes the Kyunghyang, Korea will likely become the only country in the world that imports beef and byproducts such as intestines from cows over 30 months old, which are hardly consumed in the United States.
As I said earlier, there’s a way to solve this all — Operation Total Dick.
26 Comments
Ok, I thought I understood this 30 month old beef issue until I read a post by pawi saying “would you want to eat beef that had been frozen for two years?” Now I gotta ask. is 30 month old beef beef from cows who have lived 30 months, or is it beef from cows that has been kept in the freezer for 30 months?
I’m still astounded that out of all the crap those middle school students have to put up with, this is the one thing that would make them get up and protest.
Were they doing anything illegal or just ‘protesting’?
I was once told that most of the beef in Korea comes genetically from cattle that originated in North America. While I can vouch for the veracity of this statement it certainly would make sense. The Korean conflict brought a lot of cattle to Korea via ally merchant marine vessels, not to mention that Chu Sok favorite…Spam.
Mateomiguel:
You mean that after reading anything from the Goose you have any question other than why the elevator always stops short of the top floor?
Cows that are slaughtered after they are 30 months old.
“The NCBA, though, now thinks Korea will become the largest export market because Japan and Mexico do not for the time being allow the import of beef from cows over 30 months old.”
It’s as if they saying that producers are going to keep raising their cattle longer just so they can send them to Korea only.
@1
Age at slaughter. 30 month old ground beef would be so broken down at a cellular level (from ice) that it would basically be mush. USDA recommends that frozen ground beef be consumed within 6 months and larger cuts within 12 - for quality. Safety is not an issue with frozen food.
It is also my understanding that the meat from cows over 30 months is not of the highest quality - and that meat is used primarily in sausage products and ground beef. I am not too sure about this part though but it makes sense that the prime young cuts would go to the more expensive style steaks/roasts etc while the older gets processed.
If this is indeed true, just think about how many freakin’ hamburgers are consumed with meat that is of 30 months or older.
ps. pawi is an idiot.
The US should stop being nice. If the US is nice, it’s accused of being evil, if evil it’s also accused of being evil.
Be nasty I say, start restricting those Korean imports BIG TIME.
Only one problem. Korea, given it’s lack of pastoral land, doesn’t deserve (or need) a beef market. I’d rather sell Hyundai cars and Samsung refrigerators to the U.S. tariff free then keep Korea’s tiny beef market alive.
This is beyond silly.
Probably just lost or separated from their friends and the police are helping them get home - where they belong.
Low-grade foreigners
Now we have low-grade foreign beef.
How about an acknowledgment of low-grade Korean logic?
Second highest IQ in the world my fat, pasty, Aussie arse.
aaronm,
You talking about “IQ and the Wealth of Nations?”
Even smart nations do dumb things sometimes. Look at Germany, the highest average IQ in the western world at 102. They elected Hitler in 1933.
The Goat — Don’t provoke him. That’s not cool.
if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are it’s a duck
oops!
…but point taken.
So, if other countries aren’t importing 30-month-old beef, the American FDA says that 30-month-old beef carries a greater risk of transmitting BSE, and even Americans don’t eat 30-month-old beef, why should Koreans?
All this wailing from women about meat.
When women see my meat it’s usually gasps of delight!
They’ll be eating it soon enough and the hysteria will end.
Months from now, they won’t even acknowledge that they behaved so insanely.
Then, some of the left wing nuts will pay someone off to contaminate some US beef.
Somebody will get sick and the insanity starts again.
So, all these different information sludged around has confused me greatly…
1. How are beefs ‘exported’? I’m guessing it’s post-slaughter, but would the meat have already been partitioned and categorized, or would the meat be in the carcass, ‘mommy-why-is-that-cow-upside-down-inside-out’ format?
2. Does a cow older than 30 months produce lower quality meat?
3. Why the fuck are the middle school students there protesting? Don’t they have midterms this time of the year?
4. What the hell is the police thinking, arresting a middle school student (as opposed to sending her home or contacting parents)?
“Korea, given it’s lack of pastoral land, doesn’t deserve (or need) a beef market”
Don’t you mean beef industry? I mean, you can live in a 100% mountainous region and still crave beef. And yeah, considering what other aspects of FTA can do for Korea’s bigger, more important industries, stirring sh*t up for the sake of the tiny beef industry is pretty stupid.
2. Does a cow older than 30 months produce lower quality meat?
Well, this one is answerable. It does have an inferior taste, and according to the FDA it has a higher change (however small) of transmitting BSE. It is banned in the US for human consumption.
some dude obviously has never gone to primary school in Korea.
teachers there say something, and you think God or your parent has spoken to you.
I wasn’t there though, when teachers began to be active in politics, however there was a teacher who shut the doors and windows and drew the curtains and revealed to 6th graders the “truth” from his view about Chun Do Hwan and where people go, when they be bad with him. Sam-something kyo yook dae.
since it was word of mouth at the time, he had balls to do what he did.
teachers in the states also like to blabber about politics to young children in the classroom.
you folk are dishonest. You criticize liberal teachers swaying political minds of the young in Korea, but
say nothing about US teachers doing the same, in the classrooms, when that’s clearly, clearly, clearly
NOT THEIR JOB.
i don’t know how English teachers never attained 5-15 teacher status.
or did they?
I wouldn’t know.
the closest thing to a native English teacher to me was a US Army officer and his wife, also US Army, teaching me English under the table, for mucho dinero.
“It is banned in the US for human consumption.”
No it is not.
Also,
You mean “how is beef exported?” That is like writing “Three troops were killed in action today.” It is not grammatically correct.
Grammar has a curious way of becoming irrelevant in one’s mind after an all-night session of literature research.
And don’t ask why I’m doing one during summer break… the answer depresses me.
“She wants to go home”
She’ll end up at home, 42 years-old, thirteen years into her marriage with a kid and no sex in eleven years.
3 Trackbacks
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[...] is only slightly less laughable than crying middle school kids and delusions of American cattlemen’s conspiracies. I assumed the Chosun Daily had gone on another paranoid bender, when it saw agents provocateurs in [...]
[...] For the record, I smoke, I eat meat products, and I love to shoot a good protest now and then. Nevertheless, with what’s been happening over the last couple of months, I can’t help but think people will believe anything they hear/read. The beef issue is complex, and I won’t try to simplify it. For in-depth and up-to-date coverage of the beef issue, head on over to the Marmots Hole. [...]