Gotta Love the Irony
Dear editor,
I am somewhat dumbfounded by what seems to me a great irony taking place nowadays here in Seoul. I am referring to the ongoing American beef protests occurring near Seoul city hall.
Thousands of Koreans are taking to the streets, in defiance of the law, in order to protest against the importation of American beef, which they believe will somehow kill them off individually or en masse.
The evidence suggests, however, that the two or three people who may have died as a result of having eaten tainted beef in America actually acquired the disease in some country other than America.
But what strikes me as particularly ironic is the fact that these same Korean protesters say nothing about the drug abuse which actually kills thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Korean people every year.
I am referring, of course, to the drugs, nicotine (cigarettes) and alcohol. The use of these drugs is near pandemic proportions here in Korea, but as far as I know there is no public outcry against their production, importation, sales, or usage.
One would think that these Korean people who claim to be so concerned about the possibility of contracting a deadly disease such as mad cow disease would certainly rise up in vehement protest against such known deadly killers as nicotine and alcohol, especially since they kill so many Koreans each year.
I just don't get it. Where is the logic?
Mike Swayer
American lawyer in Seoul