’Lee made beef deal before Bush talks in 2008’

By Philip Iglauer

Senior government officials pledged to completely open the Korean beef market to U.S. imports ahead of President Lee Myung-bak’s trip to the United States in April 2008, according to U.S. diplomatic cables released over the weekend by anti-secrecy website Wikileaks.

In a meeting on Jan. 17, 2008, with then-U.S. Ambassador to Korea Alexander Vershbow, top level officials in the Lee administration promised to open the domestic beef market in advance of a meeting between Lee and then-President George Bush.

The diplomatic cables were uncovered from among the 14,000 files in Wikileaks’ most recent secret document dump.

Korea Communications Commission chairman Choi See-joong and then-Minister of Unification Hyun In-taek met Vershbow at the U.S. Embassy over lunch where they discussed opening the beef market ahead of the 2008 Korea-U.S. Summit and after nationwide Korean elections on April 9.

The secret U.S. diplomatic cables exposed an apparent contradiction in government claims that there was no link between Korea’s compromise on U.S. beef imports and the timing of the bilateral summit.

Hyun said the most suitable time for Lee’s visit would be after the April 9 elections, and that the most ideal format would be a meeting with then-U.S. President George W. Bush at Camp David. In response, Vershbow said it would be good if Lee visited the U.S. in April following the resumption of U.S. beef imports.

Bush often used the Camp David visits as a means of expressing preferential treatment toward a state leader and as an expression of the importance he placed on the relationship with that country.

Of the 19 foreign leader visits to Camp David in his 8-year administration, the most at three were by Tony Blair. Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi went to Camp David once.

The discussion revealed by Wikileaks suggests meeting Bush at Camp David was a top priority for Lee. The exchange also suggests that Lee’s associates and the U.S. shared concerns about a possible negative public reaction in Korea if the beef market opened after Lee’s U.S. visit.

Hyun said Lee was well aware of the politically sensitive nature of the issues of beef imports to Korea. He assured the ambassador that the domestic market would be fully open to U.S. beef ahead of Lee’s visit, according to the diplomatic cable.

The link between Lee’s Camp David visit and the deal on U.S. beef imports were made in the minds of the public anyways.

The beef deal and the resulting confrontation with protesters against it in the weeks that followed his Camp David visit in April 2008 resulted in part to Lee’s approval ratings slumping to the lowest to date at around 20 percent.