South Korea's entire Cabinet offered to resign yesterday as President Lee Myung-bak struggled to dampen weeks of public uproar over the planned resumption of US beef imports.
Spokesman Lee Dong-kwan did not say whether the president would accept the resignations.
Eight senior presidential secretaries had already offered to quit last week to take responsibility for the beef dispute, but Lee has not decided whether to accept those resignations.
South Korean shares closed 1.9 percent lower yesterday amid growing political instability, inflation fears and expected monetary tightening in major economies, analysts said.
The KOSPI index ended down 34.58 points at 1,774.38, the lowest level since April 18, when it ended the day at 1.771.90.
The government agreed in April to lift almost all restrictions imposed on imports of US beef over fears of mad cow disease. The decision sparked weeks of protests demanding the government scrap or renegotiate the beef deal amid perceptions it did not do enough to protect citizens.
Larger rallies were expected later yesterday, with civic groups saying hundreds of thousands of people would hold candlelight vigils throughout the country.
“President Lee hasn’t listened to the voices of his people. We still don’t have a genuine democracy in our country,” said Jang Dae-hyun, a spokesman for a civic group that has organized protests.
Police said they would mobilize about 21,000 riot officers in Seoul and barricade roads leading to the presidential Blue House.
Police also placed shipping containers in a major city intersection near the Blue House, prompting serious traffic congestion.
Rallies against the deal turned violent on Sunday and the government said it would take tougher steps against protesters if the violence continues.
Meanwhile, thousands of conservative activists supporting the deal staged protests yesterday in a Seoul plaza where anti-US beef rallies were to take place later.
“It’s time to put out the candles,” said Suh Jung-kap, a conservative activist at the site.
The protesters “are only interested in overthrowing the Lee Myung-bak government, not the safety of public health,” he said.
Suh said that members of his group would try to prevent opposing protesters from entering the site, raising the potential of clashes between the two sides.
Lee’s government said it has asked the US not to export beef from older cattle — considered at greater risk of mad cow disease — but rejected calls for a complete renegotiation of the accord, citing possible diplomatic and trade disputes with the US.
Lee dispatched several official delegations to Washington on Monday to seek assurances the US will not ship beef from cattle older than 30 months, even though that is allowed under the agreement.
Both Seoul and Washington insist US beef is safe, citing the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health. But protesters say they can’t trust what Lee says.
Scientists say mad cow disease spreads when farmers feed cattle recycled meat and bones from infected animals. The US banned recycled feeds in 1997. In humans, eating meat products contaminated with the illness is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal malady.
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