No U.S. beef: Thousands of Korean residents sit in a candlelight rally at the plaza in front of the Cheonggye stream, Friday, opposing the full opening of the local market to U.S. beef./ Yonhap |
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Public anger has erupted on concerns over the planned import of American beef this month.
Numerous government Web sites including that of Cheong Wa Dae are being bombarded with Internet users' messages denouncing the decision, even calling it ``humiliating and miserable diplomacy.''
The government is afraid that the online boycott campaign might trigger anti-American sentiment it experienced in 2002 when two Korean girls were killed by a U.S. armored vehicle.
Several Web sites working to impeach President Lee Myung-bak were recently established for his role of spearheading the imports. The controversial deal has brought down President Lee's approval rating to a record low of 35.1 percent since he took the top job in February, according to CBS.
Several street rallies opposing the U.S. beef import are scheduled for the weekend.
One such rally ― by candlelight ― was held at the plaza of Cheonggye stream in central Seoul Friday night. More than 10,000 protesters including numerous school uniform-clad youngsters and office workers held candles, chanting ``Lee Myung-bak!! Eat the mad cow yourself first,'' and ``Impeach the President.'' An Internet community (cafe.daum.net/antimb) organized the protest. As of 10 p.m. on Friday, more than 500,000 angry Internet users joined a signature-collection campaign that has run since April 6 to impeach Lee.
``Under the changed regulations, nothing guarantees students' health. That's why we has come here to protect our health as well as our juniors,'' said Han Joo-eun, a third grader at Sunrin Internet High School, who joined the rally with four friends.
An office worker in his 40s who wanted to remain anonymous said, ``As a father with two children and an individual who would consume the questionable meat, I cannot help being angered. We should go to all the lengths to halt the scheduled import.'' Rep. Kang Ki-kab of the progressive minority Democratic Labor Party, who made an unexpected visit to the scene, also denounced the government, saying ``I can't accept the result of the negotiations. The government should re-negotiate with the U.S.''
``It's an unequal treaty, significantly threatening Koreans' health,'' Kim Eun-joo, the Internet community's operator, told The Korea Times. ``It's not just a matter of us avoiding marked American beef (if we are concerned about its safety) since a wide range of foods we consume are made with ingredients from cows. That means all Koreans will be exposed to the risk of mad cow disease.''
``The U.S. beef would definitely be served to students. I am afraid to let my children go to school. If the import plan goes unchanged, I would persuade parents to boycott schooling,'' Kim said.
An investigative TV program reporting on the risk of U.S. beef aired by MBC Tuesday sparked the public anger.
According to the program, Koreans are genetically more susceptible to the human variant of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, compared to Western people who have consumed the controversial meat for the past decades. It also showed a slaughterhouse in the U.S. where apparently mad cow disease-infected cows passed quarantine inspection after electric shock treatment to see if they could stand up.
Korean celebrities also joined in the protest.
TV personality Kim Ga-yeon, 36, urged President Lee and his secretaries to eat American beef first before importing it. Another female actress Kim Min-seon, 29, also blamed the government for importing alleged ``germ-filled'' U.S. beef.
``I would gulp poison rather than eat U.S. beef,'' she said on her homepage.
pss@koreatimes.co.kr
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