I chanced upon this quote from an article in the Chosun Ilbo online newspaper.

I asked a broadcasting official why the TV channels have exaggerated the issue so much. “It would be appropriate to regard it as a skirmish,” replied the official. Asked what the main battles are, he cited “KBS restructuring, MBC privatization and broadcasting market opening.” The broadcasters are primarily interested in preventing these efforts, and are in effect confronting the Lee Myung-bak administration over them. “The television channels are flexing their muscles in front of the government,” he added. If these remarks are true, we’ll be seeing more uproars like the mad cow disease one.

So, it turns out, the broadcasters are using this issue to pommel the president, Lee Myung-bak, by trying to 86 his efforts in the free-trade agreements he and Bush discussed.

Another Choson Ilbo article asks questions as to where the rumors of beef perils spring from, and it appears it’s a much more highly organized thing than just ordinary people. The above quote seems to support the theory.

So, Lee Myung-Bak pissed off some broadcasters and because of that, I don’t get a freaking hamburger. The real news, however, is that South Korea has reported instances of Bird Flu in the past few weeks, so even chicken may be getting harder to find.