Filed under: Commodities, Headline news
Many South Koreans made their feelings clear on Saturday: the United States can keep its beef.
The AP reported that a month of protests culminated in a rally Saturday night in Seoul during which many thousands of South Koreans protested the government’s decision to import U.S. beef after a it had been shut out for most of the past four and half years.
South Korea was formerly the third-largest overseas market for U.S. beef, until the first case of mad cow disease in the United Says back in 2003.
After sensational media reports sparked fears of mad cow disease, protests of the April agreement to reopen markets to U.S. beef began in earnest. Students, labor union members, and office workers filled the plaza in front of city hall. Protesters lit candles, waved placards and chanted slogans criticizing President Lee Myung-bak, but rally was largely peaceful.
Protesters suggest that President Lee was too quick to concede to U.S. demands in order to win favor with Washington and garner support in Congress for ratification of a separate free trade agreement.
President Lee’s office had no comment on the rally, but earlier. President Lee went on national television to apologize for not sufficiently consulting with the public on the beef issue.
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