Stars and Loser of Candlelit Vigils
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Some rose to stardom, while others stumbled over candlelit vigils held to protest the resumption of American beef imports.
First, the spotlight shone on teenagers. Conventionally indifferent to social issues, these teens took to the streets calling for their right to choose what to eat. They created online communities where they shared information on mad cow disease and denounced the government for allegedly making a hasty deal.
Outstanding among the throng of students was a high school senior with the online ID of ``Andante'' who led 1.3 million people to sign a petition to impeach President Lee Myung-bak, showing ``teen power'' and its influence on politics. Police questioned him for articles he wrote on a Web site, but said he would not stop criticizing the government. Internet users tried to change their IDs to Andante to protect him from further police tracing.
Then came Lee Sun-young, a housewife in Atlanta, who became an instant star after she expressed her opinion in MBC TV's ``100 Minute Debate'' via phone. In a very logical and calm manner, Lee spoke of advanced meat recovery products and said that not all Americans are happy with the meat they. Internet users assessed her later as a lot better than the panelists in the debate program.
She later called up the organizers of the candlelit vigils and expressed her support. All participants welcomed her logical, sensible yet passionate speech.
It was the Internet that brought people together to the vigils and real action rather than sitting and complaining. Michincow.net, cafe.daum.net/antimb and www.daum.net's Agora page became the busiest Web sites after the vigil.
There, members shared information on the disease, vigil schedules and how they should act, and criticized other government policies. Especially, the Daum portal managed to differentiate its image as progressive, ``right,'' and ``well listening.''
The protest turned hatred into love, in other ways. Prof Chin Jung-gwon of Chung Ang University always walked a very fine line between most loved and most hated. Since last summer when he scorned some Koreans' blind patriotism over Shim Hyung-rae's movie ``D-War,'' it was quite clear that he was the latter.
However, when the critic appeared on a string of television, radio programs and newspaper columns criticizing the government's beef deal, he became almost a pop star to fans.
During the vigils, Chin broadcast the protest live on the Internet and how the police dealt with participants. He alleged that he was hurt during police ``suppression.''
However, where there is light, there is also shadow. There are several who lost popularity.
President Lee lost a lot. He had support of almost 20 percent last month, the lowest ever in history for a president in his ``honeymoon period.''
He was widely criticized for saying, ``If you don't like meat, then don't eat it.'' He was then accused of not taking the protests against the beef deal seriously.
Lee apologized later that he hadn't manage to communicate with the people well enough to tell them the truth about American beef. However, some people denounced that he was weeping crocodile tears.
Commissioner General of the National Police Agency Eo Cheong-soo also earned public ``hatred'' when he ordered his officers to end the vigils if any ``political,'' or ``aggressive'' action was seen.
Recently, MBC News Desk reported that his brother owned a brothel in Busan and netizens are moving to impeach him.
For Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Director Lee Sang-gil, the vigil and whole dispute have been a nightmare. The public booed him when he appeared on ``100 Minute Debate'' and defended the government. He alleged that there was nothing wrong with U.S. beef and that people should trust the inspection process.
During the protests, protestors called him names and mocked him, calling on him to resign.
However, according to ministry sources, Lee has the reputation of being a nice, gentle, honorable and decent man.