Field of Tears

Although we cannot know whether Lee Kyung-hae intended to die when he stabbed himself in the heart at last week's WTO meeting in Cancun, people in his hometown see him as a hero who would have given his life to bring attention to the plight of South Korean farmers displaced by trade liberalization. Once a successful farmer and advocate of modern farmer techniques – he even received an award from the UN for rural leadership – Lee lost all of his family's land when his country began allowing the import of Australian cows and the bottom dropped out of the beef market. His personal disaster, says his sister, "made him realise that bigger forces were ruining farmers' lives and he dedicated himself to organising unions, influencing government policy and opposing trade liberalisation." Already famous in anti-globalization protests before the Cancun WTO meeting, Lee wanted to take his message – that the WTO kills farmers – to a wider audience. "Perhaps European and even urban South Koreans won't be able to understand why Lee killed himself, but that is because they don't understand the reality of Korean farmers," says a local official in his hometown. "Lee knew the Korean countryside is slowly dying, that farmers are living lonely, miserable lives. He wanted to tell the world. That is why he sacrificed himself and that is why we call him a hero." – YaleGlobal