Korea IT Times has a good article on how the flash mob phenomena has enabled the worst part of human behavior rather than being a benign source of social activity:
. . . Being a little stunned by hearing the potent mix of current event fact and malicious fiction from these students (see the article), I asked where they had got all this information from. From the Internet, of course, they said. From Daum, a popular Korean Internet search engine and portal site. When asked if they believed it, they said, “Of course, it was on the Internet.” They were asked if their friends had also heard about that news, and they nodded emphatically. They also said that their friends told of something more sinister (than) they had read on the Internet, which was that Korea was doomed to be destroyed according to an ancient prophecy.
Read the article here.
37 Comments
i’ve often wonder how much closed portals like daum add to the ignorance of students and why global search engines are rarely used.
Well, if it’s an ancient prophecy you can’t fight that.
Nice knowing ya.
“They also said that their friends told of something more sinister (than) they had read on the Internet, which was that Korea was doomed to be destroyed according to an ancient prophecy.”
In the Dawn of the new millenium, The land of the Morning calm will recieve an offer from a very generous ally. In response the people of Joseon will become very much batshit crazy and D-Wars will win an Academy Award signaling the apocolypse.
타지에서 뻘짓말고 편하게 고국가서 살지 그러냐
I enjoyed reading the article, and found it accurate regarding the internet’s power here.
But I feel its only half the story. While it mentions it in passing at the end, “…ring leaders or protest organizers have yet to be found. Instead, most participants say that the protest formation is spontaneous and leaderless, with advertisements and requests for volunteers going up on popular portal sites like Daum and Naver.” This is BS. We need more investigative reporting on the cause of this.
I find it almost impossible that all this started on its own, 100% spontaneously.
There may be no facts, no evidence at this time, but there was an organized group of intelligent, educated people behind this. Has to be.
“Has the United States taken everything from us? It seems North Korea’s Kim Jong-il is stronger. Wouldn’t it be better to stand up to the United States like North Korea? ‘Doing it our own way.’ Doesn’t that sound nice?”
Have things really gotten this bad? Is this kind of banter super-fringe stuff or fairly common?? Someone enlighten me please.
I live in the states wtf, but I’m pretty sure that Koreans do not have access to things about north Korea like we do over here because of security concerns. If they did then there would be no young KJI sympathizers.
#6, I live in South Korea, and I have the same access to information about North Korea as I did back in the states. Only it is in English. Through English websites.
Most people everywhere seek out information in the language they are most comfortable with. Sadly, the information being provided (or not being provided in Korean) is rather suspect at best.
There might be hope though. You wouldn’t believe how many educated professionals here want to improve their English skills so that they can read the main language of the internet. Some are also looking to publish their works in respected journals as well, and English will give them a much larger base than Korean. However, this may have more to do with monetary reasons than
anything else.
http://www.linkglobal.org/
http://suicide.com/
If these two links posted from within South Korea, then there are still people (and children) in the South who can help those in the North and find help for their own demons instead of despair. Again, it’s too bad that it is only in English.
Excellent article. Good find, Elgin; thanks.
That’s the problem with the internet. The best story gets the “forward to all” click, while the most rigorously analysed one doesn’t, because stories are more fun than raw data, and that little shiver up my spine of an apocalyptic vision of Korea’s streets teeming with zombie-like mad-cow infect compatriots is more fun than a careful look at the true data. I love the phrase Mike Hurt uses (can’t remember if it was in his recent Armoured Car article, or the Jeong of Poo post): “intellectual responsibility” just doesn’t show up enough on chat boards, because firing off one-line retorts is more fun than covering your butt intellectually.
In general, elgin, robert, and the rest: thanks for keeping the Marmot’s hole on top of this stuff lately.
Seems like Korea wants to turn back the hands of time and become a dictatorship with a false name of ‘democracy’. Repressing differences of opinion and having your job taken from you because you don’t agree with the majority is not a democracy. It’s dictatorship.
KJI must be lickin’ his chops with glee! Take over the people’s minds first and the rest will follow.
Do radishes go well with grass soup? They shall soon find out..
May I point out: While it is a wonderful yellow-journalism-style topic title, there is no bright side to groupthink.
Wait, why is the Australian flag next to my comment?
William G: I don’t know if that’s necessarily true: Korea recovered from the Asian Financial Crisis in an amazingly short time, because the leaders managed to get everybody on board with the recovery; same for the miracle of the Han River. Groupthink can really get shit done, if the person leading the charge has good goals in mind. The danger of course, is that groupthink can be led just as easily to the dark side.
“With great power, comes great responsibility”
This blog is full of comments that are absurd reasoning, cynical jokes, childish playing of words.
I can hardly believe they are made by foreign americans who mostly are assumed to be teachers teaching my children. which but for now I should have to believe.
I don’t understand why they are so frantic against the protest scene. In most general point of view they are demonstrating against their goverment not out of hatred to America. It’s at most problem between ROK gov and its people who do not think same as the goverment. The ROK government will represent the Korea with United States. Extremely normal case of phenomina in a democratic nation. What other measures can be done to express their oppinion in case like that LMB is pushing hard and fast while ignoring people.
Why this should be disparaged such words as mob, insane, worst. I don’t understand what the worst mean?
I try to read American or western sourced, personal, unpolitical articles over internet for the favor of unprediced or diversified view of affairs or event around korean peninsula, but for now I find it exactly the opposite. bloody emotional and animosity.
I’m quite curious what makes them so nervous to write such emotional, animosity bearing words on internet assumed to be open to the nation public. American patriotism over heating? Thinking Koreans have animosity against America not the U.S.?
Most of them barely have enough quantity information to regist the provocative, stimulating words describing the protest scene.
I respect those with deep historical knowledge who being either korean or not but again with no ability to read various media of different temper, the opinion can be regarded as not reasonable or as from out of jeuvenile, immature riots.
Does anyone on this site know if Korean schools allow students to cite freely information found on the internet when preparing research papers? Where I went to school, all my professors, without exception, discouraged this practice. Early on, I learned to distrust the internet as a source of serious academic information, as a result.
#13 - Do Korean students write their own research papers? I often hear Korean students on our school’s school bus talking about haven downloaded pre-written research papers from Korean Internet sites that charge for the service. If I were a Korean professor, I would not even waste my time assigning research projects.
People will study this event in media studies and it will go down as an textbook demonstration of how modern media can politically affect a society. Perhaps it is not the kind of history Korea would like to make but it is what it is.
It also demonstrates what the Communist Chinese Party is both afraid of and good at manipulating — modern media. Consider their spread of internet rumors (Koreans masquerading as Chinese students in Seoul during the torch riot or Chinese students being assaulted in Seoul) and their varied use of different media sources to discredit western media (blogs, bbs, etc.)
Someone in South Korea has been taking notes too because this many layered use of media to promote protests, attack mainstream media and their interests, blatant theft of symbols of protest from the 1987 protests, the anti-American protests of 2002 and even American protests during the Vietnam War (putting flowers in gun barrels, etc.) — all this is way to sophisticated and systematic to be spontaneous.
#13, I think it comes down to a question of credibility of the source. For example if you were to use the RAND website and their publications as I did extensively for strategy subjects during my MA, the source is fairly good. However, if you start pulling stuff off blogs or even citing the likes of Pawi’s comments from here, you would be stepping into dangerous territory
This today in Korean newspaper. If Korea wants to renegotiate beef, US wants to renegotiate the auto pact in the FTA.
Well, if you massively protest for the stupidest and immature reasons, your brand value, reputation, as well as foreign investment, sinks like a rock.
Congrats, children, you’ve done a good job making yourselves look foolish and damaging your own future to boot.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/ww.....25894.html
Thanks to the shitternet,you can find any “fact” you need to support any dimwit thought your mind can excrete.Unless moderate common sense somehow prevails, we are doomed as a semi-society. It oughta be fun to watch ’til it gets close to home.
cm: Thanks for the link. Interesting perspective, although I believe that Barton is being generous by still thinking that Korea has the potential to become a financial hub. As much as I hope that LMB will succeed in carrying out his economic plans, the burecrats at the MOFE, FSC, FSS and the KFTC will find a way to screw things up.
Take for example the Capital Market Consolidation Act that the government is touting these days as an example of progress. It’s nothing more than a big exercise in paper pushing and some organizational reshuffling. The OTC derivatives and FX markets, to name just a couple of areas, will continue to be restricted.
No wonder the national brand ranking for Korea is so low. The Chosun Ilbo reported on this back in April: http://english.chosun.com/w21d.....40010.html.
“They also said that their friends told of something more sinister (than) they had read on the Internet, which was that Korea was doomed to be destroyed according to an ancient prophecy.”
This is coming true. As the US pulls out of Korea, Korea will come under the Chinese hegemony.
China does not want Koreans to have a separate identity. The Japanese have been putting too much anti-China feeling to this people, they will say.
To prevent Koreans from making trouble, the Chinese will move Koreans out of Korea!!!!! As Russia moved all Korean-Russians to Uzbekistan, China will move Koreans to labor camps near Tibet and force them to use local dialect. No more Korean language.
Koreas will disappear from the face of the earth. Korean people will be absorbed into the Chinese people.
And, the truth to be told. That is where Koreans came from.
It is funny that these students are actually hastening their doom.
I am in no way saying that is the way it has to be.
I want Koreans to grow up quickly and resist these Commies. Fight Commies.
The only way for Korea to survive is to become ultra pro-American.
As per “Malmizal”
Try looking at the newer phenomena called “flash mobbing” or read a site like “smartmobs.com” to get an idea why the word “mob is used herein. The word “mob” does have some negative connotations as well (mob justice), thus it is a good, ambiguous term for the IT article when reporting upon the protest.
Most people that post here are not English teachers or paid journalists either (I’m neither) so don’t get too excited.
In a related article over at the ChosunIlbo http://english.chosun.com/w21d.....30023.html the writer points out that the government is at odds with the people and that is the true reason for the protests, which is exactly what a co-worker of mine said today… so despite all the “Crazy Cow” posters and wailing over unsafe beef, these protests are actually about democracy…
Amazing how fast revisionists work these days.
The protests are about democracy, direct democracy. Mad Cow is just one of the catalysts. Koreans are particularly mad about Lee’s privatization plans.
They’re also angry about the occupation. Being a post-colonial society, and all.
Funny thing about occupiers, they don’t know when they’re not wanted. They try to smile it off, but there is only so long they can fool themselves. They choose to term their presence it ways other than what it is. They take a paternal stance to the occupied. Robert knows this stuff, he learned it at a US university. The US-Korea dynamic is a text-book example.
Jeez, the US could lose its foothold here to a bunch of school girls holding candles.
Guys, I’m really flattered by this. I tried not to mention it, but I’ve decided to. I wrote the article. Robert Koehler can confirm it by looking at the email associated with my post if you need confirmation.
I’d like to thank this blog for pointing out most of the information I used in the article ;).
If you have any critiques lay ‘em on me!
Oh, and the original headline that I wrote for the article was “Flash Mob Rule” which explains more why I was speaking about flash mobs and mobs in the article.
I’d like to thank this blog for pointing out most of the information I used in the article
Oh no, you shouldn’t have said that.
Research by blog commenters.
Where to start.
Sacrifice anonymity on the altar of praise from Marmots commenters?
7 in a 10 part series/ OMG, why dont you do 11 articles and really ensure concise coverage of the issue at hand.
Amazing how the Philippines — which really WAS a US colony — could kick out the occupiers. Man, that US grip on Korea must be brutal. Not even Roh Moo-hyun could make them leave!
no, I didn’t use the commenters, I used the excellent translations, summaries, and links by the blog contributors.
The series is “How IT is transforming Korea”, which is a topic much more broad than US beef import protests. The next part will be on another topic entirely, as previous parts have been.
oh, thats ok then. I thought you were using a blog for your research.
As per “Celadon”’s comment about direct democracy, there is a problem your claim and that is a direct democracy still works by a “rule of law” and employs methodology. Here is one link regarding a true “direct democracy”. What has happened is not an example of a “direct democracy”.
The “privatization” issue was injected much later by other organizations, such as the KCTU (Korean Confederation of Trade Unions). Most Koreans do not even know much about privatization and, again, there is much gossip and rumor-mongering at hand, regarding such (leaflets passed out at the protest, etc.).
One should note that the opposition parties have decided *not* to participate in opening the assembly, basically negating any “rule of law” and maybe more like a child that has not gotten their way, throwing a tantrum — but then, these are not children but willful adults who have chosen to neglect their responsibilities as lawmakers.
Regardless of whether or not privatization is good for Korea or not, and regardless of whether it is a good idea to protest against the actions of one’s government, there is more than a little dishonesty and hijacking of legitimate democrat process at work.
The Detroit Free Press, of all places, ran an interesting column on this topic on Sunday.