Comments on: Candlelight Protests. Mob Violence or Genuine Protest?

By: roboseyo

roboseyo — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:57:13 +0000

who wants to join me and try to start a “don’t taze me, bro!” chant?

By: The Goat

The Goat — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:45:30 +0000

Tonight should be fun. I have an appointment in Gwanghwamun too. Joy.

By: cmm

cmm — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:49:33 +0000

@38 You need to read the paragraph that you quoted a few more times, think critically about it, and see if it really says the same thing that you said that it does. (It doesn’t.)

An expat could very easily retort that the distribution must have a very long tail, or perhaps is bi-modal… the second mode weighing in heavily at the other end of the scale.

That’s not my retort though. I agree that the “Koreans can’t think critically” is neither fair nor accurate. That being said, it does, sadly, fit my girlfriend to a T.

By: Won Joon Choe

Won Joon Choe — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:54:35 +0000

Jimong (#103) is right. The fragmentation of the media from which we get our news due to the Internet revolution doesn’t exactly enhance public knowledge–in spite of the claims of thoughtless cheerleaders who clamor that “more is always better.”

Cass Sunstein identified these problems long ago in Republic.com.

By: Mizar5

Mizar5 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:46:22 +0000

Of course I actually agree with Kim - just playing with words. I’m Korean too and I am equally embarrassed by these demonstrations.

By: Mizar5

Mizar5 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:44:23 +0000

“I am simply stating that there’s more it to than a bunch of leftist loonies whipping up the crowd to a frenzy and so forth.”

But everybody else is simply stating that there’s no more to it than this. And the facts bear that out.

By: Mizar5

Mizar5 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:42:04 +0000

“I’m Korean, but I’m now sick and tired of being a victim. I want payback this time. I’ll NEVER forget until I die.”

The victim mentality - precisely the paranoia that leads many Koreans to believe anti-American lies, including all the lies that circulated when the 2 students were dumb enough to get run over by a tank, and the lies about US beef being unsafe.

By: Left Flank: The Truth about US Beef Protests Is in Busan

Left Flank: The Truth about US Beef Protests Is in Busan — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:31:04 +0000

[...] mins0306 takes the opposite route to get to the same conclusion. The common perception here in the Hole is that Koreans hate US beef and that Koreans think Hanwoo [...]

By: jude747

jude747 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:22:21 +0000

I have a Korean friend who told me that if you want to understand Koreans, you should take a close look at how black Americans think. Koreans, like US blacks, wallow in self-pity and share a historical consciousness of victimization. Now where these two groups use to differ is in how much they internalized this victimization mentality in their daily lives. Koreans never use to view their victim status as a basis for also believing that they were entitled to something, that the “Man” owed them something and in a very big way.

To both peoples, the American white “Man” became this omnipotent Wizard of OZ keeping blacks/Koreans down. This is also why both races are so susceptible to conspiracy theories. I don’t know if anyone here has had black friends. I grew up in a black neighborhood and as such, often went with my black friends to shopping malls that cater mostly to a black clientele. There is a whole big section devoted to conspiracy theories. And like Koreans who believe that the “Man” is out to kill them with beef infected with the mad cow disease, blacks also believe in a whole host of things that have absolutely no basis in fact, e.g., blacks believe that Snappple is run by the KKK and is out to kill them by adding some special poison that only affects them. Sounds familiar?

By: Kim

Kim — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:02:46 +0000

“Hopefully this whole thing will blow over and all this beef thingy will become a memory for all of us.”

HAHAHAHAHAHA~~~ You think I’ll let the protestors and anyone supported them get away with this? Just forget everything they’ve done like nothing ever happened??

“You know what? You’re right. Everyone here not living in South Korea atm, shut the fuck up about South Korea.”

No, I’ll NEVER shut up. You shut up. I can never forget what responses I got from those crazy Koreans when I mentioned about false rumors and told them to calm down and be rational. You have no idea.

I’m Korean, but I’m now sick and tired of being a victim. I want payback this time. I’ll NEVER forget until I die.