In 2008, the South Korean government decided to resume importing beef from the United States, which had been stopped since 2003. The government’s attempt to reassure citizens with scientific claims met severe resistance, resulting in a whirlwind of political and technoscientific controversies over risks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). This article examines memories of protests in 2008 with two objectives; first, to discuss how sub-politics evolves when matters of concern become matters of fact and second, to better understand the aftermath of Korean BSE controversies. Thirty-eight semi-structured interviews with proponents and opponents of the BSE protests were conducted in 2019 and analyzed. Focusing on the complicated discursive struggles over science, society, and their relations, we demonstrated that, along with what people widely accept as the “facts” about US beef, a modern imaginary of science and politics as two separate spheres was reconstructed in Korea.
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In April 2008, the South Korean government decided to resume importing beef from the United States, which had been stopped since 2003 after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) confirmed by the US Department of Agriculture. The condition of importation included removal of specified risky materials (SRMs), the parts known to contain prion from cattle according to the regulatory standards of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE). The government’s decision was made in volatile political contexts - a new conservative administration launched just a month ago while ending the previous 10-year liberal rule, negotiation over the free trade agreement between Seoul and Washington was on-going, and major news organizations were divided by distinctive ideological orientations. Until August 2008, more than 932,000 people participated in 2398 protests. 1476 people were prosecuted and 42 were imprisoned (Chang Citation2008). The Lee Myung-bak administration’s attempt to reassure citizens with scientific claims oflow probability of trans-species infection met severe resistance, resulting in a whirlwind of political and technoscientific controversies over BSE risks and their proper management.
