S. Korea Finally Ends Subsidies to Violent ‘Civic’ Groups

Drink a toast to President Lee for this one:

The government cut financial aid to non-profit organizations by half this year. Civic groups hosting or participating in illegal violent demonstrations will have their aid scrapped, and the government has asked the National Police Agency for background checks. [Chosun Ilbo]

One of the most infuriating things the Roh government did was to subside extremist groups that engaged in violence, including violent demonstrations against U.S. installations. Why any government would subsidize violent organizations and thus feed civil disorder is simply beyond me. I’m amazed it took Lee this long to end this waste of the taxpayers’ money.

(Thought: Could South Korea’s government be as bureaucratic and inefficient as ours?)

Among the groups the government had previously subsidized was the extreme left Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, whose president is now in jail for organizing violent demonstrations and strikes.