Stone-faced Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs Park Jae-wan, second from left, listens at a trilateral meeting of Cheong Wa Dae, the governing Grand National Party and the government held at the National Assembly, Sunday, to discuss dealing with the backlash against U.S. beef imports. / Yonhap |
By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
As the public backlash over U.S. beef continues to grow, President Lee Myung-bak is facing a potential political crisis that could spell trouble for his reform drive and possibly trigger an economic dispute between Korea and the United States.
Analysts say the growing public furor over the issue could also hurt President Lee's efforts to build a stronger Korea-U.S. alliance and may fuel new anti-Americanism.
Over the weekend, thousands of protesters gathered for a candlelight vigil in Seoul, denouncing President Lee's decision to import U.S. beef ― this despite an assurance from Korea's agriculture minister during a televised conference last Friday that U.S. beef is now safe from mad cow disease.
Some 10,000 protesters joined the vigil over the past weekend, where demonstrators accused President Lee of risking the health of his fellow citizens.
The political battle over the U.S. beef issue will likely intensify this week.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Han Seung-soo and Grand National Party Chairman Kang Jae-sup are scheduled to hold a conference to seek ways to deal with the growing public backlash.
On Wednesday, the government will hold a hearing on the safety of U.S. beef, and on Thursday and Friday, the National Assembly will hold a session to discuss the issue.
President Lee's political opponents are also working to draft a bill during the current 17th National Assembly to nullify the import agreement.
The debate shows President Lee is again facing obstacles in implementing major initiatives, including the development of his Great Waterway Project and financial-sector reform. The current backlash may also be contributing to Lee's falling approval rating, which now stands at 35 percent, the lowest level since his inauguration in February.
Lee may find some comfort in the fact that leaders from Japan and the Untied States are also suffering from tumbling approval ratings: U.S. President George W. Bush's rating stands at 28 percent while Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has a 20 percent rating, according to the latest surveys.
Political leaders appear to have diverging opinions on the growing public furor. President Lee's Grand National Party claims the media and political opponents are the main force engineering the current backlash, but the opposition United Democratic Party members argue the movement genuinely reflects the public mood and Koreans' growing fear over the safety of U.S. beef.
Now, even the U.S. government is beginning to pay attention to the backlash and is going into crisis management mode.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to hold a press conference this morning to stem the growing Korean public's concern over the safety of U.S. beef. The Department's Under Secretary for Food Safety Richard Raymond will be on hand at the conference to explain how the U.S. cattle industry meets rigorous international safety standards.
U.S. media have also been covering the issue. The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that there was a fast-growing backlash to President Lee 's decision to resume imports of U.S. beef. The newspaper said the controversy was ``largely fed by false news accounts and Internet rumors'' and that rumors about the dangers of eating U.S. beef have gotten ``outlandish.''
The public backlash over the U.S. beef issue has been growing exponentially over the past few days, largely fuelled by Internet reports and an April 29th broadcast of the MBC news magazine program ``PD Notebook" that aired a critical view on the safety of U.S. cattle.
Korea first banned U.S. beef imports in 2003 when the United States confirmed a case of mad cow disease from its cattle stock. Limited imports were resumed last year but were halted when some imported beef cuts were found to contain backbones, which could run the biggest risk of transmitting mad cow disease to humans.
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