Obviously, this man hates fact-checking too. In short, he's a moron. Nothing more, nothing less.
Where do I start... let's see. In the recent past, but not long ago, Korea has returned a massive amount of beef import because a tiny bone fragment showed up from the shipment. Hannara Party, then the opposing party, made a big deal out of why Korea must return the meat shipment - and that made President Roh's job that much more difficult.
Now, the reason why the meat shipment was returned during the past administration HAS BEEN IGNORED during the latest beef negotiation, and the entire Korean population knows it. What's the people to do? Celebrate out of joy? He must have been on crack to pull off this kind of bullshit. Rather, IHT allowed this kind of garbage to be featured on their behalf? What kind of press are they?
Moreover, the candlelight vigils (or protests, as you would call it) aren't about beef hysteria any more - beef madness is only a part of it. I wonder which school gave him the degrees he holds now - apparently, those schools (from which he earned BA or whatever, then post BS/BA - all of them) didn't teach him how to properly check the basic facts when writing an editorial. Whatever the school is, it should be avoided like a plague. A PLAGUE. (If my student is caught writing up some unsubstantiated bullshit like this, I'd slap him in the face. He's bringing shame to my teaching as well.)
This one was the best "out of his ass" quote:
> For all their historical links with China, Koreans sometimes like to see themselves as kin,
> however distant, of the non-Han peoples of mainland Northeast Asia now under Chinese and
> Russian rule.
Says who? Care to substantiate it? I know a lot of Koreans - I mean, A LOT - and I have yet to see ONE showing that behavior above. Apparently, he's talking about Chosun-jok people, but the general sentiment I found from Koreans were rather "Yeah, they do speak Korean, but they are Chinese to the core." Distant kin? My ass.
> The surge in national sentiment owes much to the fact that few southerners now see North Korea
> as a real threat. Pity has replaced fear. But China itself also must take some blame. Its recent
> attempt to claim ethnic Korean landmarks - notably the semi-sacred Mount Paekdu - and
> ancient Manchurian kingdoms as part of China's cultural history has naturally helped spur
> Korean sensitivities and remind Koreans that what was once their heartland is now a part of
> China. Koreans were in Manchuria centuries before the region became part of China with the
> Manchu conquest in the 17th century.
Obviously he fails to check the basic facts here too:
1. As it stands, 60% of the Mt. Paekdu belongs to China, and is called Chang-bai mountains. Chinese people NEVER tried to claim Paekdu as their own, as that idiot claims.
2. True, Korean people did live in Manchuria -or let me clarify it. Korean people had their country in Manchuria - but that's around 1000 AD. Ever since the kingdom of Balhae fell to the hands of Khitan, Manchuria has NEVER been Korean soil. EVER. Heartland? What heartland? The land they never claimed in the past 1000 years? You call that Heartland? There are plethora of documents and writings about Manchuria from the past (i.e. From Chosun dynasty), but not a single one is about reclaiming it for the Korean people.
> None of this is going to seriously undermine relations with China any time soon. The China
> market is too big, the need for Beijing's cooperation in dealing with Pyongyang too great.
> Likewise, the beef issue is not going to cause a major rift with the United States, which is still
> needed as a trade partner and regional guard - though it could help kill the free trade deal now
> opposed by Barack Obama.
He doesn't read newspapers all that much, it seems. The relationship between Korea and China has chilled like never before in recent times. Lee, out of incompetence, failed to show his homage to the country of China. What I mean is that, when Korean presidents made a trip abroad, the usual itinery was US -> China -> Japan. Korean presidents showed their homage to the people of China by visiting them at the earliest possible moment when his trip returned to the Far Eastern side. Lee plain ignored this - possibly from his ignorance - and visited Japan before making his trip to China. On top of this, he proclaimed that he will do his best to be America's dog. China is very pissed about it. So... let's settle the score. Lee's government failed to score with American gov't. They failed miserably with Chinese gov't. His recent remarks directed toward Japan (about forgetting the past history, and some dumb shit about Dokdo) means that Lee's administration scored a grand total of 0 out of 3. And Korean people don't even have the right to be incensed about this incompetency, right?
Gee. If I can get paid like this man for writing up crap and bullshit of this magnitude, I'd do it in a heartbeat. (And I don't have to find the sources of the claims, or spend the time checking the facts, either. Cool, eh?)
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More Mad Cow Madness: A Letter to the IHT 
[re] More Mad Cow Madness: A Letter to the IHT 
