South Korea's senior presidential aide and a team of ruling party legislators are to leave for Washington Monday as protests against the impending resumption of U.S. beef imports continue.
Kim Byung-guk, senior presidential secretary on foreign affairs and national security, will meet with U.S. government officials to discuss ways of implementing an agreement reached during a phone call between South Korean Presidents Lee Myung-bak and his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush Saturday.
During the telephone talks, Bush pledged to ensure that the U.S. would not export beef from cattle older than 30 months to South Korea.
Bush told Lee that his administration would come up with "concrete measures" to prevent meat from older cattle from being shipped to Korea.
Meanwhile, a parliamentary delegation, composed of five lawmakers of the governing Grand National Party, left for Washington Monday, vowing to deliver South Koreans' safety concerns and discuss solutions with U.S. Congressional leaders and cattle raisers.
"We will deliver the growing concerns of street protesters and the government's effort to ban imports of meat from older cattle," Rep. Hwang Jin-ha was quoted as saying.
The South Korean government last week postponed resuming beef imports for the second time since signing the deal in mid-April and said it would try to find a way to exclude beef from older cattle seen by many South Koreans as very dangerous.
President Lee Myung-bak has seen his approval rating plummet to 20 percent since winning the presidential election last December. Thousands have taken to the streets daily to protest the deal and more than 60,000 protested Friday night calling for his ouster.