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By Mark Shryock
The imprisonment of the Hebei Spirit's two most senior officers, Master Jasprit Chawla and Syam Chetan, for allowing their ship to be rammed while at safe anchor by a barge owned by Samsung Heavy Industries has infuriated the global maritime community, India, and the world at large.
Calls for a boycott of products from Korea, and especially those produced by Samsung, are now beginning to be heard from across the globe.
The two men, both Indian nationals, have been detained in Korea under house arrest since the worst oil spill in Korea's history occurred in December 2007. Despite being found innocent by a Korean lower court, the Korean prosecution appealed the case and won.
On Dec. 10, Chawla and Chetan were handcuffed and led off to serve a sentence of 18 months and eight months, respectively. They are rapidly becoming international heroes while at the same time Korea grows more and more unpopular.
The irony is that while their case is gaining international momentum on a daily basis, in Korea the imprisonment of Chawla and Chetan has prompted little interest.
But scrutiny of the case should be raised in Korea immediately because it is beginning to damage Korea's public image abroad. There has been much talk lately about branding Korea. Unfortunately, this issue is branding Korea in the worst ways possible.
The shipping world is starting to threaten the halting of all shipments to Korea. This is in addition to an already well-organized movement in the shipping world and India to create a global boycott of Korean goods.
The U.K. newspaper, the Financial Times, recently published an article saying that, ``If the boycott movement grows, Korea will be placed in a very serious situation, as it imports all of its energy from abroad."
Korea should be seriously concerned over this possible scenario. But Korea should also be concerned that at a time of a global financial crisis the international financial media is beginning to print speculation of the possible financial consequences of such boycotts.
I can say personally that I have met with a group of internationally connected bankers who feel this issue is already hurting Korea and has the potential to be catastrophic.
In addition to this, thousands have already gathered in protest rallies in India. Calls for a boycott of Korean products are now numerous and growing daily. This is now spreading beyond just the shipping industry and India, and is beginning to be heard in growing sectors around the world.
The Chosun Ilbo also quoted a Chennai-based member of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) as saying,``When you consider the inclinations of the Indian people, the large-scale demonstrations by the Indian sailors' organizations could spark a widespread boycott of Korean goods such as Hyundai cars and Samsung and LG electronics, so the government has to take effective counter-action."
The KOTRA official was quoted as adding, ``If the sailors are not released then Hyundai cars might not be able to come in."
Internationally, Korea is also beginning to look corrupt and vindictive, which is a brand image Korea can ill afford.
Wikipedia states, ``According to Lloyd's List and other media reports, Korean maritime officials, prosecutors and Samsung lawyers have been accused of colluding in the retrial of the two senior officers.''
According to Wikipedia, Robert Giorgi, president of management firm V.Ships told the press he is concerned at recent developments ``which point to collusion.'' He stated this prior to the appeal and also said that he did not feel confident the men would get a fair trial.
The fact that in print all over the world are the words ``efforts of Samsung and prosecutors look to be designed (so) that the master and the chief officers are found guilty on appeal'' should be a cause of great concern.
It means the rest of the world is having extreme difficulty in understanding the verdict arrived at on appeal Dec. 10. Many Koreans are sympathetic to the fisherman and feel someone should be punished regardless of the technical guilt.
Indeed, this may be what drove the prosecutors to retry this case ― and not collusion. I have seen no clear evidence that shows any collusion between Samsung and the prosecutors. But this does not matter.
To much of the rest of the world, this verdict is such a mockery of justice that collusion seems the only plausible answer. Korea needs to understand it can no longer afford this kind of justice and that the cultural need for this kind of justice had better be rethought.
This issue is not going to go away and the longer Korea detains these men, the greater the negative branding is going to be.
I have a master's degree in restoration ecology. My degree and expertise are designed to fix in nature what humans have harmed. Because of my love of the earth, I feel rage and despair over the Taean oil spill.
I understand deeply the grief and anger all Koreans feel over this disaster. I never thought as an ecology writer I would be writing an article that argues for the freedom of anyone connected to something so damaging to the earth.
But the more I looked into the imprisonment of Chawla and Chetan I knew that's what I had to do. They are not responsible for the great wound Korea has suffered over the oil spill. On Dec. 31, I went to the Indian embassy and met with Mrs. Chawla and Mrs. Chetan.
I sat across from them and looked into their tear-filled eyes and promised them I would write this story. But I did not write this story just for them.
I see a great nation, a nation that I have grown to know and love, inflicting great harm upon itself. Let Chawla and Mr Chetan go free and let all of us begin the great work of healing from this deep wound.
Mark Shryock is professor of English at Kangnung National University's Wonju Campus in Gangwon Province. He is also a writer, ecologist, and artist who came from Joplin, Mo., in the United States. He can be reached at Markshryock@yahoo.com The views expressed in the above article are those of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of The Korea Times.
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