S. Korea Sees Presidential Backlash Over U.S. Beef
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
SEOUL, South Korea — It’s not just about beef anymore.
As tens of thousands of people waved candles in central Seoul and other South Korean cities, a month of street demonstrations against the purported danger of American beef broadened last night into a populist backlash against the country’s fledging president, Lee Myung-bak.
Mr. Lee’s entire cabinet offered to resign early yesterday to take responsibility for the beef dispute and to take heat off the president, who has been in office less than four months.
The resignation offer, which Mr. Lee has not yet acted on, came in anticipation of what was by far the biggest night of demonstrations against his government.
Chanting “Out with President Lee” and wearing stickers that made Mr. Lee look like a rat, the crowd included office workers, mothers and fathers with children, college students, and members of labor groups.
“It is too late to soothe the public with lip service, and even fixing the beef issue is too late,” a game software specialist who protested after leaving work, Lee Hong-taek, 33, said. “The real question is his leadership style.”
Police said 70,000 people protested in Seoul; organizers put the number at 700,000. Local press and broadcast outlets estimates ranged from 400,000 to 600,000.
There were no reports of clashes between protesters and police, which have occurred in earlier protests this spring.
Despite repeated assurances from Mr. Lee’s government and America, many South Koreans continue to fear that American beef would infect them with mad cow disease.
But people in the streets here are also angry about what they call Mr. Lee’s arbitrary way of making major decisions, his tone-deaf response to public opinion, and his choices of rich and, in some cases, unsavory business leaders for senior positions in his government.
“The president must realize that this is a very serious situation,” the owner of an after-school institute, Kim Hyung-suk, 60, said. “If he does not listen even now, then the next step is to demand that he steps down.”
Soaring oil prices have also soured the public mood, and truckers voted Monday to strike for cheaper fuel, even after Mr. Lee’s government offered a $10.2 billion package of aid that would provide some subsidies for gasoline and diesel fuel.
