My question to you Whitney is; are there enough resources there in Korea for the citizens to boycott effectively and still be self sufficient like you suggest?

I know very little about Korea.

Thanks again Whitney!

Yesterday as you know around 200,000 people took to the streets of Seoul to protest the risks posed to them from consuming imported US Beef. Was this a call to action for heart healthy eating? No! If that were the case then their protest would be viewed more as HeartWalk (American Heart Association™), as opposed to a protest. The official story, was that the South Koreans were protesting the risk associated with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)… Mad Cow or Jack in the Box Disease.

Given the fact that the there have only been 3 documented cases of BSE in the United States since 1993, I was wondering why would the Koreans jump on the Mad Cow wagon….(I miss The Oregon Trail (Farmer from Ohio rules). It does not make economic sense for them to try to protect a tiny cattle industry. Due to the fact that we have a vastly greater amount of farm land, we undoubtedly have a comparative advantage when it comes to the Cattle Industry, and as such we are able to provide them low cost Beef for their Galbi delight. In other words they (as individual households) are benefiting from our Beef exports in the same way that we are benefiting from having our prices “rolled back ™” by buying their electronics LG & Samsung (all of my electronics).

Ok… now that you have sworn at me or… us.. or US …whatever … Why is this so odd. Why aren’t 200,000 US citizens protesting Smiley faces and rolled back prices. I mean I hate a tasteless Wal-mart banana as much as the next guy.
However, I, like 99% of the people in the US am wholly or for the most part self-interested. I buy what is the best deal for me, not for anyone else including Mother Earth. In the end I have no doubt that most Koreans are the same way. If the price of Beef soared rapidly as the price of all food is doing at a moderate pace… Koreans would be outraged and not just 200,000 of the most environmentally conscious, anti-US, and Nationalistic amongst them.

This rally/protest really was an attack on the pending US-S.Korean Free Trade Agreement which has not been ratified. Although, Lee Myung-bak’s party has a parliamentary majority for most of his term which runs until February 2013 -some- Koreans realize that they need to express their opinions now before the treaty is ratified.

Nonetheless,Korean domestic industries…(like dom industries in the United States) have to accept comparative advantage whether they want to or not. Not only does South Korea need the Free Trade Agreement with the United States to be ratified, they need to pursue further Free Trade agreements in order to counter China’s growing economic clout and ambition to control the economy of that entire hemisphere. If Korea does, and more so if it doesn’t keep growing China is coming. China is coming regardless…lets not kid ourselves.
As such, a 200,000 person showing of National Unity in the face of economic …hostility…… is a good sign for that country. In the face of coming pressure from big red brother.

Another good sign for those Koreans opposed to FTA’s is that the US Legislature and soon the Executive will be in control of the Democratic Party. Dem’s find FTA’s far less favorable and may take the FTA off the table. (I don’t entirely know Obama’s stance on FTA’s… so I will leave that discussion to her so as not to misquote …misinterpret or whateva. I am interested though.)

Anyhow, Koreans Beef is not with Beef it is with what that they feel are concessions to an evil power. Unfortunately…. their Protectionist sentiment is only going to hurt them in the long run. Their hearts are in the right place…Just like most Americans…who would like to be built Ford Tough … but inherent self-interest…MPG,less repair cost…Cheap Beef … whatever it may be will always trump the moral high road because we are all moral when it is most convenient and makes us feel good.

I am really fearful of a backlash against free trade worldwide…as we have seen in South America..and here— Asia. If the protectionist route is followed, newer, more efficient industries will have less scope to expand, and overall output and economic welfare will suffer.

In the words of Claude Frédéric Bastiat “When goods cannot cross borders, armies will.”

With the Population “Bomb” exploding I hope that those armies stop with Oil, and don’t ever move on to food. However, I am starting to feel that is inevitable …and hope I am long gone by that time. We… US Citizens…Korean citizens…shouldn’t plant the seeds for that to happen.

Michael Hardcastle
University of Toledo
College of Law 2010

The suggestion to boycott beef from the United States was my suggestion as a form of nonviolent protest regarding the issue at hand.

Whether from South Korea or in the United States itsself, boycotting beef (especially from large beef corporations) could potentially be beneficial not only for your health, but also for the environment. With regard to the recent political climate here South Korea in relation to the agreement between Lee Myung-bak and Bush, there is a special case where it might be a good form of protest for this specific issue.

If you’re interested in learning more about the problems with the United States beef industry, I highly recommend reading Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. Freedman and Barnouin present a very entertaining and informative background regarding the beef industry in the United States.