Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Speech

I was going to title this entry "Censorship" but "Freedom of Speech" is just more optimistic, and I'll be covering both.

I try to read a lot of blogs, especially ones dealing with international issues -- especially Westerners living in Korea or just writing about Korea. These days they are constantly writing (it reads like they're yelling and venting) about the ridiculous censorship in Korea, because various servers, such as Typepad.com and Blogs.com and Blogspot.com were blocked by the Ministry of Information and Culture (? abbreviated as MIC). Koreans living in Korea can no longer access these sites, and the MIC's English webpage provides no acknowledgement of this even happening. Many Westerners are upset over this.

While I completely understand the outrage, I'll have to say one thing. You're not in the US or the UK anymore. Many westerners go abroad to foreign countries assuming that US rules (I'm going to just go with US instead of mentioning many other major western nations) apply. Freedom of speech is a fairly new thing in Korea. Just because it is a democracy does not mean that they have the exact same Bill-o-Rights.

A friend from Saudi Arabia told me that for stealing, the culprits hand will be chopped off with a large, machete-esque sword, as punishment. Sounds extreme, eh? What may seem like cruel and unusual punishment is their normal protocol. When you're in a foreign country, you have to abide by their rules -- since the US is one of the super-powers of the planet, US citizens especially are quick to denounce other cultures and deem their own as superior. Remember that one kid who was in Singapore or something and was supposed to be caned, as in beaten with a stick? You break the law over there, you will get punished as they will over there. It may seem wrong to you, but who's to say how one nation is to govern their people? Just because US holds mucho power, does not mean that the laws in the US are the best and should suit everyone else. When immigrants come to the US, they adapt to US rules and regulations -- when Americans go abroad, they should do the same. If they are not willing to accept that, they need to reconsider their trip.

Of course there are exceptions. There are basic human rights, such as rights to survival, and such, that should be universal (although it isn't quite yet). However, variations in culture means variations in customs. Something like freedom of speech is a relatively new thing in Korea -- just about a decade or so ago, you were punished if you said something to offend the president. It is during YS Kim's presidency that this rule was done away with.

Watching The Last Samurai has made me realize that some old-fashioned ways die hard. Die very hard. People will evolve as they need to, so don't force your ways upon any group. Many would have thought that the Samurai's are crazy because they stuck to their old ways which wouldn't have been too strong against the rising forces of gun power, but it is their spirituality that made them stick by their ways of life. Sometimes that's necessary. So don't be too upset that your blogs have been blocked. Korea will evolve in its own time and own way, not because something is unimaginably horrific to Westerners.