Matador Politics

Abstract

Bullfights in Korea are between two bulls, not between a red-cape-waving matador and a charging bull as in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. Nor do bulls die in Korean bullfights. They butt heads for a few minutes until one gives up and trots off to lick his wounds. The matador in politics deliberately incites a powerful figure, a government or corporate leader, inducing him to charge like a bull before he turns tail and runs. More specifically, said one observer, “Matador is a tactic in which people circulate or manipulate false facts to denounce rivals in electioneering.”¹