My name is Daniel. I was an English teacher in Seoul, South Korea, and now I am a writer and scholar who has written a number of books including South Korea: Our Story by Daniel Nardini.

                             I feel especially sad for the owner in the record store in Istanbul, Turkey, Lee Seok-woo. All he was doing was running a record shop, and all he was doing was providing customers with entertainment. One of the cultural taboos in much of the Middle East is the serving of alcohol. Serving alcohol, especially during Ramadan, is strictly forbidden. Like in the United States, Koreans do not think twice about serving alcohol at gatherings. This all said, I am surprised that none of the customers at Mr. Lee's business did not remind him that this was Ramadan, and that alcohol should not be served. What I found totally inexcusable was his business being trashed by a Turkish mob and poor Mr. Lee being beaten up. I can also ask where the Turkish police were during this episode?! Didn't they see a large mob of 20 people going around and smashing up things?! Although Turkey is supposed to be a secular country with the majority of the people being Muslim, this one small incident shows that the country is quite unstable and that doing business here is at one's own risk. I truly sympathize with Mr. Lee, and I hope he and his business will recover from this atrocious event.