The Joongang Ilbo explains a little:
About 40 lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party occupied the conference room of the Budget and Account Committee of the National Assembly yesterday morning to protest the ruling Grand National Party’s plan to form a subcommittee on adjusting the budget bill.
Rough stuff in the National Assembly is a fairly regular occurrence, and though the Korean Embassy in New Zealand once complained about a commercial there that featured video footage of brawling politicians, saying
It depicted Korean politics and people in a negative fashion and was therefore offensive to the Korean community in New Zealand.
perhaps politicans that behave like this depict Korean politics and people in a negative fashion and are therefore offensive to the Korean community in New Zealand. This latest episode doesn't compare to July's Media Law Pay Per View
or to last year's December to Remember.
14 comments:
Some fighting in Jeju, too.
Does anyone know why this keeps happening? It is a definite blight on the Korean image... I knew about the brawling parliament before I ever thought about coming to Korea.
Kushibo? Brian?
It is so hard for me to convince my students that hitting, throwing desks and erasers, and shoving each other is wrong and inappropriate when the politicians are on TV doing it... in assembly no less.
@Mike
But isn't that the point -- that just because a certain behaviour is inappropriate in our culture(s), that doesn't mean it's inappropriate in Korean culture? Despite the hand-wringing of the Korean Embassy in New Zealand, it seems to me that some level of angry confrontation (whether it's physical, or raising one's voice, etc.) is simply an accepted part of resolving a dispute in Korea. Sure, it looks ridiculous to us ... but really, why should they care?
Despite the hand-wringing of the Korean Embassy in New Zealand, it seems to me that some level of angry confrontation (whether it's physical, or raising one's voice, etc.) is simply an accepted part of resolving a dispute in Korea. Sure, it looks ridiculous to us ... but really, why should they care?
Talk to your Korean friends and colleagues. They believe it is just as ridiculous as "we" do. None I've talked to accept it.
I think I side with Peter. When it's common for 60 year olds at the ends of subway cars to duke it out, it's in keeping with Peter's hypothesis. I don't think I've ever once witnessed retired men and their wives getting into a drunken battle on the Toronto subway. Ever. It's a weekly scene in Korea.
It is so hard for me to convince my students that hitting, throwing desks and erasers, and shoving each other is wrong and inappropriate when the politicians are on TV doing it... in assembly no less.
I was in a similar situation when I started teaching. Then one day we had this inter school teacher sporting day. There was some bad call made in that weird soccer/volleyball game and the teachers on both sides suddenly flared up in shows of rage & anger.
I quickly realized "Oh, that's their culture. It ain't me."
Of course hockey dads are not known for their calm resolve in the face of poor refing.
Still, if an MP threw a punch in the house of commons that politician would be done.
I find the fights in the National Assembly entertaining too. However, to give sole credit to the Koreans for this is an injustice to the Taiwanese:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voJ9c0BKJrY&feature=related
Makes our MPs and Congressmen seem genteel.
I think I side with Peter. When it's common for 60 year olds at the ends of subway cars to duke it out, it's in keeping with Peter's hypothesis. I don't think I've ever once witnessed retired men and their wives getting into a drunken battle on the Toronto subway. Ever. It's a weekly scene in Korea.
After two years in Korea I have yet to see this myself. What line(s) does this take place on? Are there particular cars where the action takes place? I'm not trying to claim that it doesn't happen, but I'm curious if it's more prevalent on some lines or sections of track than others.
For the record, the vast majority of the confrontation I've seen between Koreans has been non-violent, mostly involving raised voices or shouting, angry gesturing, occasionally physical intimidation, but rarely any actual hitting. Which makes the National Assembly fights an extreme example of this behaviour, but not, in my opinion, all that shocking in context. As a Canadian, I sometimes observe behaviour in other Canadians that I find embarassing, but not surprising in the least; I suspect that's how many Koreans feel about the Assembly's behaviour (particularly when speaking with foreigners).
Acorn I would see it on the blue line running up to Nowon.
Isn't it a requirement for someone to use the phrase "tin-pot culture" in these discussions?
;-)
I used to wonder why no one had enacted a law making it a crime to interfere with parliamentary procedure. And then I remembered whose responsibility it would be to draft such a law.
Puffin Watch:
Thanks. I live in the general area (Uijeongbu) but almost always take either Line 1 or Line 7 to get to where I'm going. Guess now I know to avoid Line 4!
* * * *
As Douglas pointed out this is also an issue in Taiwan, and I've seen it claimed that fights in the various Yuan (legislative bodies) have been a problem since at least 1987.
While I have no academic sources to back up this line of reasoning, the fact that both Taiwan and South Korea are countries that achieved statehood following a civil war, still harbor concerns over an (ethnically-similar) aggressive neighbor in favor of 'reunification', and have been governed by a dictator (or "authoritarian leader" if one prefers) despite their nominal status as democracies leads me to wonder if there isn't a similar reason (or set of reasons) driving this behavior within politicians of these countries.
In particular, I'm curious how much influence the "grass roots" democracy movements of the 1970s and 1980s have had in generating an assumption that bravado, theatrics, and even violence are normative ways of showing one's dedication to the cause and fighting against "the man". In the past this figure was an authoritative dictator (and even further back, the Japanese colonial government) and now it's a collection of individuals representing the opposing political parties. And it's so much easier to get in a fellow politician's face in the National Assembly (or Yuan) than it was to do anything similar to the nation's dictator. (President Park in Korea, President Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwan.)
For that matter, given the political history of Indonesia I wonder if there aren't political brawls there as well. (Probably not, but I have no idea.)
Really though, this is all just one guy's (unsupported) opinion.
I agree with Acorn in the Dog's Food:
The people leading the country now were students when Korea's democratic protests happened - at the age when people figure out how the world works, Korea's politicians saw people get what they wanted politically through loud, extreme gestures and violence, not through discussion and debate. It's no surprise they're still using the same tactics. In the 1960s, when all channels for communicating with the government were ignored, tokens, or corrupt, those gestures worked, and were necessary. Now, I wish they weren't.
Meanwhile, I also agree that as long as this kind of video footage makes headlines around the world (and it does) Korean politics will never be taken totally seriously by the rest of the world.
(identification word: roofi)
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