by Marion Nestle

Currently browsing posts about: Korea

Jun 12 2008

South Korea beef import riots: a plausible explanation at last

It’s not really about mad cow disease. It’s about the South Korean government’s caving in to American pressures. This makes more sense.

Jun 10 2008

South Korea riots: update

Update, June 10: Now the protests have grown to 70,000 people and the entire South Korean cabinet has offered to resign–all because it agreed to accept U.S. beef, which all those people believe is tainted with mad cow disease.

Jun 9 2008

They’re rioting in Korea

More than 65,000 people in Seoul took to the streets to protest the South Korean government’s decision to allow imports of American beef. Why? Because we haven’t convinced them that our cattle do not have mad cow disease. Sunday, 40,000 rioted again. The issue has a long history rooted in distrust of America dating with our war with Korea in the early 1950s. It also has a lot to do with our less than stringent efforts to ensure that U.S. cattle do not have or get mad cow disease. The situation with Korea is a mess, and one likely to be difficult to clean up.