The massive expansion of the 2008 BSE candlelight vigils confirmed a changed
structure of public debate in Korea by “coalitions of media, experts, civic
groups, patrons of media outlets, and political organizations.” Korea’s progressive
media, intellectuals, civic groups, citizens, and political parties succeeded
in determining the direction of public opinion and power in a vacuum
created by collapsed public authority to a considerable extent. At the same
time, system of determining the truth in Korean society was being seriously
shaken. Though the possibility for an authoritarian regime to re-emerge in
Korea has gone since its democratization, the authority of public agencies
needed for debate and dialogue is being shaken. Ideological freedom is open
to all possibilities, but public authority involving man’s daily necessities and
life must make realistic conclusions. In order for disputes to become means of
the pursuit of truth, an authority recognized by all parties of a debate is
absolutely needed. By delving into the core problems of the candlelight vigils,
this paper will identify the origins of the BSE candlelight vigils and the process
by which the authority of Korea’s public agencies was damaged and collapsed.
It will also reveal the distortions of Korea’s BSE experts’ analyses of the situation,
and that these distortions were made possible by the support of “coalitions
of media, experts, civic groups, patrons of media outlets, and political
organizations.”