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Seoul lifts ban on US beef imports

South Korean protesters scuffle with riot police as they try to block US beef shipments at Busan port yesterday after the government lifted a ban on US beef imports. PHOTO: AFP

South Korea lifted its ban on imports of US beef yesterday, and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called on the country to move past the dispute, which has paralyzed his government with weeks of tumultuous protests.

The import ban was lifted after South Korea won extra safeguards for an April deal that placed few restrictions on meat shipments, prompting outrage against Lee from critics who said he made too many concessions to Washington and ignored public concerns about mad cow disease.

Lee, who took office in February, has replaced his top aides over the mishandling of the beef issue and his Cabinet has offered to resign.

The Public Administration Ministry issued a legal notice yesterday of the US import agreement, the final administrative step required to allow shipments to resume, ministry official Chang Su-wan said.

Seoul plans to begin inspecting more than 4,800 tonnes of US beef today from earlier shipments held in customs storage facilities, the state-run National Veterinary Research & Quarantine Service said. The inspection could take some days and the beef could be on store shelves in about a week, agency spokesman Lee Byung-kwon said.

The agency had planned to start the inspections yesterday afternoon but postponed them due to protests by hundreds of labor union activists near 17 storage facilities across the country, Lee said.

Fresh US beef shipments were expected to arrive in South Korea in about a month but major supermarkets have said they would not sell US beef for the time being, citing public health concerns, according to media reports. Both the US and South Korean governments insist the meat is safe.

Lee, who has been humbled by the protests but recently has shown increasing decisiveness in seeking to end the daily street rallies, said yesterday the country should now focus on boosting the economy — his main campaign pledge that helped him win election last year.

“It’s time for all of us to pull together our energies on the matter of reviving the economy,” Lee told the Cabinet, according to his office. “If this situation continues, the common people will suffer damage.”

Lee said if South Korea had failed to implement the beef deal, it would have lost its international credibility.

Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said in a nationally televised statement that illegal, violent protests against beef imports would not be tolerated.

“Genuine candlelight protests have been turning into violent demonstrations calling for the ouster of a democratic government. That is a very regrettable thing,” Han said. “We have to look at the future, not the past.”

Under the new agreement, imports will be limited to beef from cattle younger than 30 months, believed less susceptible to mad cow disease.

On Wednesday night, about 5,000 people clashed in central Seoul with riot police, who used water cannons and fire extinguishers to repel the crowds, causing some injuries on both sides. About 140 protesters were arrested, police said.
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