True, But Would It Sell Papers?

At the Marmot’s Hole, R. Elgin notes that the Korean press is trying to  make foreigners the scapegoats for  South Korea’s drug problems.  I agree with R. Elgin.  The article notes a “huge increase” in drug smuggling into Korea, and then proceeds  to  indirectly blame Americans, Canadians, and Chinese for it. 

Prosecutors believe the rising number of American drug offenders correlates to a rising number of English teachers coming to Korea, prompted by the recent trend for English education.

The total of 116 foreign drug offenders caught in Korea last year is a 28.4 percent decline from the year before. There were 88 foreign drug offenders caught in 2002, 86 in 2003, 203 in 2004, and 162 in 2005.  [….]

Prosecutors said that Korea, which was once considered drug-free, is increasingly being used as a conduit by criminal groups for international drug trafficking.   

The article  offers no data about  the volume or substances found in the possession of persons of these nationalities.  For all we know, the drug seizures from the foreign teachers  could be personal use amounts.   

I would concede, on one hand, that there is generally more social acceptance for drug use among Americans, Canadians, and Europeans than among South Koreans overall.  I think this is regrettable, but it does not mean that drug use in Korea is a “foreign” problem.  The article’s discussion about Korea as a trans-shipment location could even suggest that South Korea is a net exporter of illegal drugs, although I doubt that this is the case.  Let me suggest an alternative theory  that may have less appeal on the Korean street:

South Korean customs officers raided a warehouse in the southeastern port of Busan last week and found 80 kilograms (176 pounds) of methamphetamine smuggled through North Korea, the biggest haul in South Korean history.  [Bloomberg, June 2003]

On one hand, I see no stats for North Koreans being arrested.  On the other hand, as long as Roh Moo Hyun runs South Korea, a North Korean diplomat could abduct schoolgirls off the streets of Seoul  with a meathook and never get arrested.  As Michael Breen recently pointed out, the South Koreans keep welcoming the same North Korean drug ship back to their ports.  There’s little question that North Korea faces little risk in selling dope in South Korea.  How many English teachers can say that?

This theory — that North Korea is  more likely to be  responsible for this “huge increase” than a few hippie English teachers —  has the advantage of actual evidentiary support.  For the Korean  media, however,  it has an overriding disadvantage:  zero xenophobia value.  Statistically, I wonder how the volume of the  English teachers’ pot and ecstasy compares to the volume of crank the North Koreans are moving South.  I can say that of the three substances, meth is easily the most addictive and dangerous.