This past weekend, Pusan police entered a few bars in the PNU area and issued some fines for licensing infractions. These included promoting dancing (by such sinister means as providing disco lighting) without a "nightclub" license, and having menus lacking a "Meal" section. One might wonder, as I do, why the police seem to care about food and disco lights, and if it were merely a coincidence that all the places currently being hassled are popular with foreigners.

I spoke recently with Choi Sung-hoon*, an artist who was associated with a recent event in the PNU area. I asked him why the police are doing all this. He laughed and said without hesitation, "Because they don't like you and Jeff."

He was talking about Jeff Lebow, the creator and manager of Pusanweb. I was surprised (and flattered) that Sung-hoon lumped us together like that. I'd always thought of Jeff as Pusanweb. I'm a guy who wrote some stuff once in a while, I'm not Pusanweb. But there it was, wow, the police didn't like me.

Well, he was joking, but only half. There was a lot to his answer that begs some thought.

Here's a thought: Sung-hoon was referring partly to the accusation aired in the Chosun Ilbo a few months ago that an unnamed expat website (gosh, who could THAT be?) was promoting "hallucination parties", and thereby encouraging the use of drugs. None of which is true, never mind the fact that the phrase "hallucination party" was apparently coined in the Korean press. Pusanweb has hosted announcements promoting all sorts of cultural events, saying absolutely nothing about drugs, in code or otherwise, as any English-literate user can very quickly determine. Nonetheless, Sung-hoon was of the opinion that the police use Pusanweb as an "information bank" of possible illegal activity.

Here's another thought: perhaps he was also referring to the PNU-area environment after recent drug busts in Pusan, Seoul, and elsewhere. In current Pusan Policethink, the whole PNU area is a hotbed of illicit activity driven somehow by the expat community. They think SOMETHING is going on, though they don't know what, so they respond by cracking down on anything they can to appear to be at least doing something about it, whatever "it" is.

And another thought: could be he was also referring to the more general hysteria being created in the Korean media surrounding the coming World Cup. There will be hairy hordes of foreigners here very soon, many of them of course looking to have fun while they're here. The Korean media has done a good job so far in encouraging the impression that we foreigners have depraved tastes, and the public wants to know if Pusan's finest are up to the job of containing our base instincts. So the police are putting on their own "Cops" show, so we can see they're on top of things, by busting anyone and everyone who looks like they might be up to SOMETHING.

Though it must be noted, "anyone and everyone" seems to mean PNU bars that are popular with foreigners. And one of those "somethings" so far has been dancing, and any 17th century Puritan can tell you what kind of evil that can lead to...fun, romance, personal expression, release from the stresses of our worklives, you know, all that terrible stuff.

But why do I find it so hard to believe that this is just about dancing and menus? The zoning and licensing laws being exploited here by the police are the same ones which prevent you from opening a brothel across the street from a middle school, which makes sense. But come on, protecting University students, who are adults, from the evils of dance and the dangers incurred by a lack of readily-available pork cutlets? And busting only those bars which are popular expat hangouts in the PNU area? The idea that this is about menus and lights is more than a stretch. As my grandfather used to say, it's Bull Pippy.

One of the ironies here is that one of the main reasons a country hosts a World Cup is--no, not to issue fines--but to put the country more on the map, with an eye to long-term benefits, like boosting the economy by promoting things like tourism and foreign investment. In their zeal to showcase their World Cup readiness, the police are giving all of us serious cause to question both how much fun a tourist visit to Korea would be, and the wisdom of opening a business here that could be fined or shut down for frivolous reasons like improper lighting and a skimpy menu.

Pretty soon, several million more people could very well be asking those same questions. Why come to Korea? I'm scratching my head over this one, believe me, and the only thing I can come up with right now is that you can come to Korea to learn exactly how NOT to promote your country as a tourist destination or investment opportunity.

Though, as a selling point, I somehow don't think that'll cut it. If Korea isn't careful, this great opportunity could slip through their fingers as the World dances away, back home and far away from Pusan.

*not his real name