 Cars are bumper to bumper at the Gwanghwamun area in central Seoul Tuesday as 10 of 14 traffic lanes were closed with containers. A candlelight vigil is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the plaza in front of Seoul City Hall. / Yonhap |
Police Tuesday stand on high alert nationwide ahead of massive candlelight rallies opposing the government's resumption of U.S. beef imports.
Organizers expect nearly 1 million people to take to the streets to join the rally that coincides with the 21st anniversary of the June 10 pro-democracy protests.
The National Police Agency issued a ``Gapho'' alert at 9 a.m., ordering all police forces to be on standby until the rallies come to an end. About 37,000 police officers were mobilized across the country, and 10 of 14 traffic lanes in the Gwanghwamun area in central Seoul were closed with containers. Police plan to close the remaining four lanes in the afternoon.
A civic coalition claimed that an unprecedented number of protesters will join the rallies that will begin at 7 p.m. The pro-democracy demonstration in 1987 led the then military regime to adopt a direct presidential election system.
"The Lee Myung-bak administration should look directly to the infuriated heart of the people that has made the nation a sea of candles and humbly listen to their voices and immediately set out for renegotiation," Yonhap News quoted the People's Association Against Mad Cow Disease as saying in a statement.
The candlelight vigils began May 2, about two week after South Korea and the United States reached an agreement on quarantine conditions with regard to Seoul's resumption of U.S. beef imports. The rallies turned more violent recently as some protesters wielded steel pipes and police countered with aggressive tactics.
Under the agreement, South Korea is to allow imports of U.S. beef from cattle of all ages, banning only specified risk materials from cattle older than 30 months, which are known to have the greatest risk of transmitting mad cow disease to humans.
Koreans opposed to the agreement say the beef pact cannot protect them from mad cow disease, which is generally discovered in cattle over 30 months old. Civic groups have suggested Seoul impose stricter guidelines, banning meat from cattle older than 20 months.
To ease public concerns, President Lee has ensured that Korea will only import U.S. beef from cattle younger than 30 months. All of Lee's senior secretaries offered to resign last week, taking responsibility for the deepening crisis.
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