By It is official, MBC has admitted that the US mad cow hysteria they started in 2008 was all based on lies:
Broadcaster MBC has issued an official apology for reporting distorted facts in 2008 about the safety of American beef.
The Supreme Court on Monday cleared five journalists on MBC’s investigative program “PD Diary” over a report critical of the Lee Myung-bak administration’s decision to resume U.S. beef imports. The report, which claimed American beef could cause the human form of mad cow disease, led to massive protests against the import resumption that paralyzed government for weeks.
They were also cleared of defaming former minister of food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries Chung Woon-chun, but were told to air an apology and correct the distorted facts in the original program. [Chosun Ilbo]
What is ironic about all of this is that there are legitimate concerns about US beef as well as Korean beef for that matter, that the Korean public should be aware of. However, the legitimate concerns are now all lost in the lies spread by MBC and their allies. However, none of this had anything to do with trying to promote food safety, the whole 2008 mad cow riots was all about over turning an election, not protecting Korean citizens from tainted beef.
12:22 pm on September 6th, 2011 1
Mad Cow hysteria was whipped up by the chinboistas, who indeed were trying to overthrow the Lee Myungbak administration and even spark a popular uprising if they were so lucky.
But part of the take-away lesson is that that’s the insidious nature of the chinboistas: they glom onto a small set of facts and then run with that. You see, there really are downer cows in Riverside, and the Bush administration gutted inspection of US beef, and factory-farmed beef is a danger to our health in terms of overuse of antibiotics and runoff that’s even getting into our vegetable supply.
I hope Sonagi chimes in with some support of what I’m saying. (And I am not saying that the South Korean beef industry is better, worse, or the same; I am in the US and the beef I eat here is almost all from the US, so this is a concern.)
12:36 pm on September 6th, 2011 2
These two cows were out in the field chewing their cud and doing other cow stuff.
One cow looked at the other and said, “Are you worried?”
“About what?”
“This mad cow disease.”
“No. I’m a helicopter.”
4:08 pm on September 6th, 2011 3
Shouldn’t MBC or these journalist be held responsible for all the damages that were incurred? Property destroyed, lives put in danger over this lie. I can understand the concern of safety on tainted beef, this is a serious concern. Seems this happens frequently in Korea with bird flu but I guess thats not a big issue either. If this was done in the U.S. against a Korean product I can assure you they would demand not only an apology but tons of money since it damaged their status. (OINK)Only in Korea lol
4:17 pm on September 6th, 2011 4
Scoobydoo, what’s not a big issue with the bird flu?
Korea culls hundreds of thousands of animals in Korea over various animal-borne illness outbreaks, and it’s splashed all over the news, so I’m not sure what you think is “not a big issue.” Maybe I’m misreading what you’re trying to say.
Did you grow up in a parallel universe where people don’t refer to Hyun-DIE and joke that Kia stands for Killed in Accident, even though these vehicles have high safety ratings (and very good quality ratings)?
6:23 pm on September 6th, 2011 5
#4,
You forgot…In a country where,
“This is your unmarked car? A Daewoo? Man, I know people. I can’t be seen in this thing. Open the door. I don’t wanna get Daewoo on my hands.”
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Taxi_%28film%29
is translated as, “중고차 싫어”
6:30 pm on September 6th, 2011 6
PS. I also had a good laugh at how the line “He thinks smoking is a sign of weakness” in Meet the Fokkers was simply translated as something with less punch, something along the lines of, “그는 담배를 싫어해”.
6:34 pm on September 6th, 2011 7
ROFLMAO @ #5 & #6.
6:59 am on September 7th, 2011 8
Random people making bad jokes about cars is equivalent to a national media campaign that distorts facts and brings the nation into an uproar? Property was destroyed. People were hurt over a campaign based on nonsense. Has something similar occurred over people badmouthing Korean cars?
Yeah, didn’t think so.
Journalists should be held responsible for BS reporting. Scooby’s point stands.
7:41 am on September 7th, 2011 9
Aha. The hysteric fanaticism exposed. Well, no one can say we didn’t tell them so.
12:13 pm on September 7th, 2011 10
Scott, you’re right. I read Scoobydoo’s comment on a tiny iPhone screen and I must have scrolled past the part about damage to property (I think I started at from OINK* and went backwards). Yeah, that makes it different. (* Far worse happens in China, so the annoying OINK doesn’t really work).
But badmouthing Korean products, particularly cars is not merely some “random people,” but rather a comedy staple for quite some time, regularly on national television. But yeah, I don’t recall any damage coming from that.
But then again, the damage did not come about because of any “lie,” but because the chinboistas were trying to overthrow the administration. Any excuse would have been used if it presented itself; this goes back decades and has precious little to do with issues of beef safety. Police and protesters have been getting hurt for all sorts of activist and chinboista reasons for decades.
But if you are concerned about “lies” and beef, you really need to know that it’s a two-way street. Mad Cow is only one of many worries about American, Canadian, or any country’s factory-farmed meat.
3:55 pm on September 7th, 2011 11
“But badmouthing Korean products, particularly cars is not merely some “random people,” but rather a comedy staple for quite some time, regularly on national television.”
Well, yeah. We enjoy reminiscing about the fun we had as kids at the expense of our neighbors who had to take a taxi once more because Hyundai Pony wouldn’t start in the winter or of our friends who got a Goldstar sound systems made of the same plastic used to make model cars for Christmas?
4:06 pm on September 7th, 2011 12
#11
Hyundai Pony deserves ALL the bad mouthing it gets and MORE. And this comes from someone who would seriously consider Sonata/Genesis for next sedan.