Publications

What is the Bush administration thinking? Here we have a government in a major U.S. ally in Northeast Asia facing a raging crisis that was triggered by an action that its new and inexperienced government took under political pressure from the United States at the highest political level, and the Bush Administration’s response is "this is your domestic political problem, you fix it!"

Now it’s true the Korean government’s agreement to resume all imports of U.S. beef is sensible, in both country’s interest, and long overdue. It’s also true that the scientific evidence all supports the U.S. beef industry’s contention that beef imports from the United States pose absolutely no health hazard to Korean consumers. But these facts are beside the point. The current outpouring of frustration and fury that was triggered by the agreement on beef imports is no longer, if it ever was, about science. It is about feelings and emotions, and until these feelings and emotions are assuaged, the crisis will continue to escalate with potentially dangerous consequences for the overall U.S.-Korea Alliance and relationship.