Thursday, December 21, 2006

Koreangeist

A court has twice rejected arrest warrants for six people who led protests against a Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, paralyzing traffic and assaulting police officers, on grounds that there was no flight risk or fear that they will destroy evidence. Prosecutors say that ignores public demand for an end to illegal protests.

Most people have had it up to here with the habitual, violent and illegal protests that bedevil Korea. To deal with illegal protests, courts must apply the law strictly, from reviewing arrest warrants to trial. The court’s refusal to grant arrest warrants for illegal protestors flies in the face of public sentiment. In the last three years, courts have not jailed a single one of the 91 defendants who came before them charged with violating the laws on assembly and protest. That is enough to give rise to concerns that the courts, too, know which side their bread is buttered under a progressive government.Chosunilbo

The writer says Korea is ruled by zeitgizt, but is it zeitgiest or is it Korean national geist?
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