Broken Negotiations May Harm Alliance

By Lee Byong-chul

There was once a period here in South Korea when the phrase ``anti-U.S. demonstration" was applauded as political rhetoric meaning the philosophic bent of freedom and democracy under the authoritarian-military regimes.

Over the past decades, anti-U.S. demonstrations have become something of a symbol for democratization and a unified Korea.

Yet the anti-American sentiment of today seems to be economically oriented, refusing to follow the rise of neo-liberalism or globalization led by the U.S. Ironically, the pro-American government in South Korea served to fuel public anger by mishandling U.S. beef imports.

The U.S. beef imports may turn out to be the canary in the Lee Myung-bak administration's coal mine. After just 100 days in office, the President has seen his popularity plummet to below 20 percent, highlighting the public's lack of faith in his ability to serve them.

No one imagined that hatred toward Lee would so quickly become de rigueur for the liberal factions and even be fairly common among some conservative pundits.

A combination of strategic errors, out-of-focus leadership and broad mistrust of government policies has left the Lee government in a vulnerable position.

The focus of fury, at the moment, is on the President himself, rather than the connotations of what he is saying. President Lee's myth has been burnt by a continuous parade of candlelit demonstrations.

Outraged radicals are even calling for the President's resignation, although I personally find this inappropriate, since changing the President is not like changing radio stations.

The Lee government has lost the public's confidence, and given the people a sense of wrath and frustration, instead of economic stability.

It has also neglected to fully disclose information regarding the mad cow disease which is mainly found in ``dead, dying, diseased and disabled cattle."

While jousting with the government, citizens have started to question whether the government is really what they voted for last December. Lee's promise to serve the people with the highest respect has already become empty rhetoric.

Confused by a barrage of unconfirmed tall tales and dire warnings about American beef, the government has been politically eliminated by angry citizens. Full-blown Lee haters claim that the bulldozer-like-President has betrayed voters.

Some of them insist that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish the government whenever it uses its power without the consent of the people. According to them, the country has been hijacked by an irresponsible and arrogant leadership, which governs on behalf of the haves and those with pro-American interests only.

On the streets, tens of thousands of demonstrators find the government on the wrong side of history because it failed to muster the courage to face the issue of 30-month beef in terms of food safety for its own people.

In the past, governments have sometimes acted wrongly, but demonstrators of all ages now feel ashamed of the actions of their government. Additionally, I don't believe claims that the protestors are pro-North Korea supporters.

Rather, most of them are of that generation called ``silent," those wishing to survive outside of history. Unfortunately, however, the situation could become much worse and more complicated over time, unless the government's new measures soon reverse this tide.

The negotiations, in Korean eyes, were indeed made in many respects like a war where South Korean negotiators fought with small pistols, while their U.S. counterparts responded with high-tech weaponry.

In addition, the Lee government, surrounded by pro-American aides, had to hide the fact that it hastily agreed to allow imports of U.S. beef in return for a more strengthened Korea-U.S. military alliance.

And it has done more to ignore or reverse regulations that have protected the people from super-giant American agribusiness corporations ― Tyson Foods, and Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. ― than any other government.

South Koreans demand that the U.S. officially ban the export of beef aged over 30 months, which comprises a small portion of the whole beef it exports overseas.

In response to mounting criticism, President Lee, on June 7, asked President George W. Bush during a 20-minute phone call to take substantial and effective measures to halt the export of this older beef.

Even though political opponents still call the move window-dressing, the government points out that the request was a de facto renegotiation in relation to the April 18 accord to reopen the once third-largest market to U.S. beef, in order to show that the government cares about the people's food safety and quarantine and inspection sovereignty.

Everyone here in Korea is now nervous, with tension building to a point of no return or breaking point. Just waiting for something to happen could drive the people mad.

The undercurrent in these demonstrations is different from those of past authoritarian military regimes that the U.S. administration reluctantly endorsed in accordance to its political, military and economic interests. South Korea is no longer a country like Iraq and Afghanistan, which the U.S. can influence behind the scenes.

The path to renegotiation is full of political risks for both the Bush administration and President Lee's administration.

If these demonstrators believe that charging a police barricade will affect the country's fate in the slightest, they would charge without hesitation ― even though it would be less than honest to say that they expect such a happy ending.

The prospect of renegotiation looks extremely bleak, but South Koreans ask again: Can't the alliance mend the broken negotiations?

The writer is a senior fellow at the Institute for Peace and Cooperation (IPC), a nonpartisan policy advisory body based in Seoul. He can be reached at bcleebc@gmail.com.