I haven’t had many clear ideas about the Korean protest of the US beef deal that I wanted to get into on this site, even though I’ve probably read more about it in recent weeks than any other topic. The origins of the protests are dubious at best, but I think it eventually (and amazingly) morphed into a somewhat legitimate gripe with the governing style of the current administration. To cover something like this properly it has to be addressed every day and make no bones about it (baddaambam, pun) I’d rather spend my time on lighter topics.

I’m noticing the coverage in the major western media, which seems to have only started in earnest this week due to the candlelight demonstration photos, has kind of glossed over the true origins of this mess, and headed straight for the “democracy” angle. Even my trusty Economist completely missed the boat on the story, finally (if superficially) reporting it this week as the “Summer of Discontent,” and only focusing on Lee Myung-bak’s 20% approval ratings and his strongarm governing tactics. You can listen to that piece here.

What’s bad about this kind of coverage is that it completely misses the boat on what has been a fascinating (if sometimes frightening) display of groupthink fueled mostly by rumormongering via technology, which was in turn pounced upon by the media (the Korean media is populist to the extreme). These two, hand in hand, the media and the technology based rumormongering, have created a furor.

As I said I think what’s happening now was the intent all along, and while I don’t totally agree with it, I do believe it’s a legitimate complaint against the government. Reuters has an excellent article summarizing what I’ve explained above and its effect on the future of politics in South Korea and other technology-based nations. No, I wouldn’t put the U.S. in that group. In fact, at this point the only other might be Estonia — which has the single largest wireless network in the world (Korea has the largest broadband network). But this will obviously change.

When Lee won the presidency in December, it was by the biggest margin in a democratic South Korean leadership election.

By the time the anger over beef had mushroomed into the biggest street protests the capital has seen in 20 years, the former construction company boss had became the most unpopular president at the start of their term that the country has seen. His approval rating now is barely scraping 20 percent.

Social and political commentators said allegations that an April deal to import more U.S. beef put society at risk of mad cow disease tore through the Internet and on SMS messages so fast that they became fact before the government or mainstream media had a chance to weigh in.

One early claim, which appeared to win wide credibility in one of the world’s most educated societies, was that the homogenous Korean race had a gene which made it particularly susceptible to the disease.

In Korea, a number of other factors come into play — nationalism, a strong cultural connection to agriculture, a still emerging democracy with a Confusion past — so it’s hard for me to say “this is the way it’s going to happen in other places,” but I think you catch my drift.

“The Internet has generated what can be called ‘lifestyle politics’. These are soft, everyday issues that can quickly become major political topics,” said Kang Won-taek, a political science professor at Soongsil University.

One of the most popular sounding boards for the debate over Lee Myung-bak’s policies has been the Agora section of leading portal DAUM (http://agora.media.daum.net/ ).

Normally with up to around 40 million pages views a day, the number exploded during the height of this month’s protests to more than 200 million a day across a wide range of age groups.

The use of the Internet has given a new impetus to South Korea’s long tradition of mass rallies.

Now, the protesters discuss the best sort of video equipment to use — preferably resistant to hard bumps and bursts from police water canons — and quickly post video clips and photos while detailing their experiences on blogs.

Observers said the beef debate has seen the merger of online and offline politics.

Protesters shout slogans and also shoot pictures and videos on their top-end mobile phones that are quickly sent out on the Internet. They send SMS messages to friends to meet up at protests and warn them when the police are starting to arrest those who are acting up.

I got carried away quoting here. Definately read the rest of the article on your own.