Roh Criticizes Lee for Allowing Beef
By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
Former President Roh Moo-hyun criticized President Lee Myung-bak for fully opening the beef market to U.S. products.
In a speech to a group of visitors to his hometown in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Roh said Koreans will face higher risks when they eat U.S. beef, imported under eased quarantine rules.
Roh made the remarks after presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said the Lee government is ``washing the dishes'' by wrapping up the unfinished beef negotiations between the Roh and Bush administrations.
Roh stressed that it is Lee who gave up the country's beef ``quarantine sovereignty'' by even allowing import of beef containing bone irrespective of cattle age.
One of the several negotiation principles of his government is ``food safety,'' Roh said. ``Our goal was to lower the probability of risks through securing (stricter) quarantine rules.''
The Roh government had sought to open the market when the U.S. government totally banned ranchers from feeding cattle feed containing animal remnants.
Dismissing the Lee government's claim that Roh is responsible for the beef market opening, Roh said, ``I did not stamp full market opening. Lee stamped it.''
Roh also said he had rejected U.S. officials' proposal to visit venues like Camp David, the U.S. presidential retreat, where Lee and Bush held a summit on April 18-19.
``We had to give big gift to Bush if we decided to visit Camp David. But there was no gift,'' he said.
Lee has suffered severe criticism from netizens and opposition lawmakers. Some of them said Lee exchanged ``quarantine sovereignty for lodging fees at Camp David.''