To lose a prime minister over a game of golf might seem a little careless. Yet on March 14th, President Roh Moo-hyun accepted the resignation of Lee Hae-chan, after mounting criticism of a round of golf he played on March 1st. The day was a national holiday, but why, people asked, was Mr Lee on the links schmoozing with businessmen rather than at his desk dealing with a national railway strike? This seemingly trivial issue resonated in a country that is increasingly obsessed with supposed polarisations in society: between those in regular work and those with only part-time jobs, between the haves and have-nots, between rich family-dominated chaebol, or conglomerates, and smaller struggling businesses, and between prosperous Seoul and the neglected regions.
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