South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said yesterday that the country would not accept imports of US beef from cattle more than 30 months old as he negotiates his biggest test yet since taking office 100 days ago.
After protests that have brought thousands of people onto the streets over fears of mad cow disease, the government imposed the limit as a condition for resuming beef imports, which have been intermittently banned for years.
The move risks a standoff with Washington, but may ease public anger which has seen Lee’s popularity ratings tumble by half since he took power.
“It is natural for the government not to import US beef from cattle older than 30 months, if the people are concerned and the majority of the people do not want it,” Lee was quoted as saying by a spokesman.
“The people’s trust in the government has weakened seriously because of this issue,” he told a meeting of Cabinet ministers.
Minister of Agriculture Chung Woon-chun said Seoul would suspend its plans to restart imports until Washington complies with its request not to export beef from older cattle.
“We won’t announce new quarantine conditions until the United States gives an answer to this request,” Chung said on TV.
South Korea lifted its intermittent ban on US beef imports last week. It had imported some US$850 million in US beef a year before the ban was imposed for the first time. An initial accord struck in April called for Seoul to buy almost all beef cuts, including those from cattle more than 30 months old. Older animals are deemed more likely to be a mad cow disease risk.
However, after weeks escalating demonstrations that have led to hundreds of arrests and scores of injured in clashes with police, the government announced late on Monday that it was delaying its resumption of imports.
“It was a measure to humbly accept the people’s will,” Chung said.
Nevertheless, US Ambassador Alexander Vershbow, who met South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, ruled out renegotiating the April deal.
“We don’t see any need for renegotiation of the agreement since it is based on science,” he was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)