Going down
It’s my theory that political and social events in Korea often take the form of a magnified version of events that are taking place in Europe, and recently the country that has been most similar to South Korea in its political trajectory is France. So a case in point would be the dramatic fall in the popularity of Sarkozy since he was elected last year and the even more dramatic fall suffered by Lee Myung-bak since he came into power a few months ago:
Sarkozy - came to power just under a year ago - current popularity rating: 38%
2MB (Lee Myung-bak) - came to power two and a half months ago - current popularity rating: 28%
By the way, it’s interesting to note just how upset the Grand National Party are by Democratic Labour Party lawmaker Kang Ki-gap’s recent election victory in the GNP stronghold of South Kyongsang and the key role he has played in the current popular revolt over US beef imports. They’ve now decided to go after him on supposed election violations. As if that wasn’t enough of a sign of panic among the conservatives now running the country, they’re hastily making all sorts of noises about prosecuting anyone they don’t like “spreading rumours on the internet” or holding candlelight rallies with “political slogans and placards”. I have a feeling they’ll soon realise that it’s not so easy to turn the clock back…
I think you are quite right to compare Sarkozy in France with Lee Muyng-bak in ROK: both were elected with US help and bothe are facing social unrest.
You, Koreans have made a good job, opposing KORUS-FTA. In Europe we are currently fighting against the European Union.
Good luck to you
SAM
Comment by AYACHE Sam — June 3, 2008 @ 12:28 pm