Min Dong-seok
Aassistant Agriculture Minister |
By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
The chief South Korean negotiator in talks with the United States regarding beef imports tendered his resignation, calling the nationwide protests against the resumption of imports ``huge political insanity.''
``I'm prepared to call it quits to my career as a civil servant,'' Min Dong-seok, assistant agriculture minister, said Tuesday, adding he ``could not maintain his post after the minister in charge stepped down.''
President Lee Myung-bak replaced three ministers, including Agricultural Minister Jung Woon-chun in a partial Cabinet shake-up Monday, in an attempt to soothe public anger over controversial policies that included allowing U.S. beef imports into the country.
Min's official term runs until the end of next year, following an extension of his tenure late last year.
In his resignation letter submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, he referred to the protesters as an ``obsessed bunch spreading ungrounded weird rumors.''
``International negotiations are dominated by relativity, which deters us from arguing our own circumstances and logic. They are battles of national interests based on international standards,'' Min said in the letter.
The assistant minister also complained that his ``efforts'' didn't work for those who refused to listen to him.
'``The whole ministry, including myself, was swept up in this immense and irrational political tide. I tried to stand tall against the wave of ill-founded rumors and biased agitation but it didn't work for one-track minded people,'' he said.
Min added that the government had made a mistake by failing to communicate during the process of promoting its policy on beef imports.
Min also argued that he took the position as chief negotiator, settling for criticism of the outcome, because ``someone had to do it.''
``I have decided to leave all the merits and demerits to history. I realize it's the destiny for a civil servant to take. The truth will emerge someday, no matter what the world says right now,'' the high-ranking official said, making a martyr of himself.
Candlelit protests against April's original deal have substantially crippled the Lee administration less than four months after it took office, forcing the entire Cabinet and all senior presidential secretaries to offer their resignations en masse.
The President's approval rating has been lower than 10 percent at times amid the ongoing protests nationwide.
Last month, South Korea and the United States reached a tentative agreement through additional talks in Washington on guaranteeing the safety of American beef to be exported to Korea.
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