By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff reporter
A group of liberal professors at Seoul National University (SNU) issued a statement on Monday, criticizing President Lee Myung-bak, the governing Grand National Party (GNP) and conservative media outlets for distorting the true purpose of candlelit protests against American beef imports.
The professors' statement came after President Lee recently called on liberal intellectuals who supported the anti-U.S. beef protest to apologize for their role in the candlelit rally that swept the nation two years ago.
"It is absurd for the government and some conservative newspapers to demand apologies from those who organized the anti-U.S. beef protest. It is the current administration who should take a look at itself concerning the matter, not the public," an SNU branch of the National Association of Professors for Democratic Society said in the statement. More than 150 SNU professors belong to the organization.
The professors then demanded the Lee administration issue an apology to the people for the careless remarks of President Lee, government officials and GNP lawmakers.
"Additionally, the government should renegotiate the terms on the import of U.S. beef because there are no other countries in the world that import American beef on as generous terms as those of Korea. President Lee and others in power, as well as the Chosun Ilbo should stop distorting public opinion and instead make every effort to restore democracy," the organization said.
The professors also said they will organize joint rallies with staff from other universities and members of progressive civic groups in a bid to pressure President Lee to retract his earlier remarks and Chosun Ilbo to publish corrections on its articles.
Following a series of recent Chosun Ilbo stories published on May 10 to 12, which were critical of the candlelit vigils and those who staged them in May 2008, President Lee said the government needs to publish a white paper on the public protests against the resumption of American beef imports two years ago.
He said the case should go down in history as a contemporary example of social conflict and division."A number of medical experts and intellectuals criticized the government at the time based on false information, but nobody has taken responsibility," Lee said during a weekly meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on May 11 drawing strong protests from scholars and civic group members.
Lee's decision in May 2008 to reopen the country's beef market to the United States, which had been closed since the outbreak of mad cow disease in America in 2003, sparked a wave of candlelit rallies nationwide, dealing a severe blow to the conservative leader less than four months after his inauguration.The newly sparked anti-government movement appears to be spreading from SNU toother universities, with a group of ChungAng University professors consideringissuing a statement critical of the current administration if President Leecontinues to degrade the candlelit vigils.
Additionally, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) and other progressive civic organizations are poised to organize rallies and discuss a range of other measures to counter the government's recent attempts to disparage the candlelit vigils.