1948 Berlin Airlift to the 2008 Korean beef protests.
The distance from Berlin, Germany to Seoul, Republic of Korea is a little over 8000 miles yet spanning this distance and 60 years in time there is a strange and winding connection between the Berlin Airlift and the South Korean citizen revolt of U.S. beef imports.
1948 Berlin represented the opening salvo in what would become the "cold war." The Western response to the Soviet blockade of Berlin was the now famous airlift of supplies. When the Soviets closed off ground access to Berlin in June 1948 the Western powers and the citizens of Berlin had few options. The only viable option was to supply the city by air. However; this would require a massive, up-to-then unheard of, amount of supplies. During Summer months at least 3,475 tons a day were needed. During the winter months this jumped up to 8000 tons. In total, the allies would delivery more than 2.3 million tones or an average of about 7900 tons per day. This was a remarkable feat with two long lasting consequences. It demonstrated that West was prepared to challenge the Soviet Union with everything in its military and economic arsenal. It also demonstrated that the Western powers were prepared to go to any lengths to protect their allies.
Throughout the cold war the United States used its military protection guarantees to open up indigenous economies the American products and trade. Countries most dependent on United States military support became America's most willing trade participants. These included Germany, South Korea, Taiwan and Israel.
With the end of the cold war in the 1990s American military protection became a far less important leverage tool, even in South Korea where the cold war with the North never really ended. Support for American military presence in a number of countries declined sharply, especially among the populations that felt U.S. soldiers were above their local laws. By the late 1990s countries like South Korea began to resist the open trade with America that was always part of the deal for military protection. Despite frequent American protests domestic trade barriers became topics for political debate.
In 2003 the report of a case of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) in the United States sparked the banning of U.S. beef imports into most of Asia, including Japan and South Korea. While health concerns were the reasons given for the ban, domestic economic forces played a much larger role. In reality, every national and international overseeing agency has certified U.S. beef to be among the safest in the world. This fact; however, has not been sufficient to end the trade bans. Protecting domestic beef producer prices with trade protection is considered a violation of international trade agreements. However; food safety concerns provide a sufficient reason for maintaining the ban so the food safety issues are the only ones mentioned in support of the protectionist policies.
In 2008 the South Korean government sought to eliminate the ban and reopen their market to U.S. beef imports. This sparked tremendous protests in Seoul and throughout South Korea. On the surface, the protests were about food safety but under the surface a different dynamic is playing out. There is a strong anti-American current within the protests. Resentment for years of accepting American policies as part of the deal for military protection is percolating through the protests. The South Korean president's seemingly close relationship with the unpopular U.S. president certainly didn't help.
Ultimately the Korean beef protests demonstrate that the cold war is long over. The undercurrent of resentment for years of perceiving themselves as a pawn to American foreign policy manifests itself in unpredictable ways. For the United States, military clout isn't sufficient any longer because the threat isn't sufficient. As a result, nationalist pride has taken over as a means for asserting independence from American foreign policy. The people were just looking for an excuse. Beef imports seemed as good a reason as any.
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