By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter

The government and the governing Grand National Party (GNP) have left open the possibility of requesting some amendments to the U.S. beef imports deal, but said Monday that renegotiating the entire agreement would be impossible.

But the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) reiterated its demand that the Lee administration begin renegotiating the import deal.

``Of course, the government needs to renegotiate. The current deal puts Korean consumers at risk. This shouldn't even be considered an agreement. The government officials say renegotiating the deal is not possible but they are just making excuses for themselves,'' said UDP Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu.

GNP policymaker Lee Han-ku offered a response by saying that ``redrafting the agreement as the opposition parties demand is impossible. That would also be against international negotiating practices and protocol.''

The governing party has said it is making an all-out effort to calm the public's concern over the safety of U.S. beef.

However, the main opposition party is going ahead with drafting a bill to halt U.S. beef imports. It is demanding that the Lee administration renegotiate the entire agreement.

``The current agreement on U.S. beef imports is thoroughly unfair. We will work on ratifying the bill as soon as possible to prevent the agreement from taking place,'' according to UDP spokesman Choi Jae-sung.

Today, Prime Minister Han Seung-soo and GNP Chairman Kang Jae-sup will hold a high-level conference to seek ways to deal with the public backlash over U.S. beef.

Meanwhile in Washington, U.S. government officials held a press conference Monday morning in an effort to ease the Korean public's concern over the beef import issue.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's undersecretary for food safety, Richard Raymond, asserted that U.S. beef does not pose human health risks and that it is ``among the safest in the world.'' He also added that ``the Korean government is welcome to come to the U.S. and do an audit as they see fit, when they see fit.''

GNP leaders have pledged they will implement necessary safeguarding measures to ensure that the imported beef cuts are safe for Korean consumers. They said that while renegotiating the entire import agreement is not feasible, they might request amendments to the deal.

They specifically mentioned the ongoing negotiation in Taiwan and Japan. The two countries are currently drafting new beef import agreements with the United States. And if their agreements are markedly different from the Korean deal, the government may consider making a request to U.S. negotiators to amend the existing U.S.-Korean agreement.

``We will implement safeguard measures to help ease the public's concern over the safety of U.S. beef. And if the beef import agreements with Taiwan and Japan are different from ours, then I think it would be possible to take another look at our own agreement and consider requesting amendments to negotiators,'' said GNP policymaker Lee.

GNP officials have said they plan to send inspection teams to U.S. slaughtering facilities to ensure that cattle backbones, spinal cords and intestines ― parts said to be specified risk materials for mad cow disease ― are not imported. They said inspectors would ensure that U.S. slaughtering processes meet international standards.

The governing party is also considering adopting a state-by-state regional ban of U.S. beef if safety problems occur in certain regions there.

Additionally, the administration is planning a media campaign to send a message to Korean consumers that U.S. beef does not pose any danger from mad cow disease.

``The government should have taken an active step in publicizing the safety of U.S. beef, right after the import agreement was signed, and not wait until Korean consumers expressed their concern.

That was our mistake,'' according to an official from the Lee administration. ``We are implementing safeguard measures and we will start a major public relations campaign.''

The administration's damage control may not be enough for Lee's political opponents. The ongoing controversy might already have caused some irreversible damage, according to some analysts. Public attention to the safety of U.S. beef could delay the ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement by the National Assembly here.

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