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June 27, 2008
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The move had been expected yesterday, but was delayed after a day of violent demonstrations against U.S. beef in downtown Seoul and other parts of the nation. Seoul’s Metropolitan Police Agency said yesterday that 139 protesters were arrested early in the morning after intense clashes overnight. Police said the rally lasted until 5 a.m. at various locations, including the neighborhood around the Blue House and the major roads around Gwanghwamun. After the government announced its decision Wednesday to take the last administrative step to reopen the market to U.S. beef, tensions escalated rapidly. Police used water cannons around 1:30 a.m. in an attempt to break up demonstrators. Scuffles were reported between the two sides. “We have arrested those who used physical force against riot police or who disrupted traffic,” a police official said yesterday. According to the police and the People’s Conference Against Mad Cow Disease, the rally organizer, 100 demonstrators and 56 riot police troops were injured. Seven police buses were destroyed, and some 300 pieces of equipment such as radio transmitters went missing. The conference scheduled another rally in front of Seoul City Hall at 7 p.m. yesterday. Confrontations were also reported in Busan and Yongin as members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions blocked trucks from leaving refrigerated warehouses where U.S. beef has been stored. At a warehouse in Yongin, south of Seoul, Democratic Labor Party lawmakers joined the KCTU members and civic activists to stop meat shipments. About 100 police officers were sent to the site, but no violence was reported. “I will start a boycott of U.S. products until Korea regains its right to quarantine,” DLP Representative Kang Ki-kab said. In Busan, more violent clashes were reported between the demonstrators and police. About 150 KCTU members and activists began blocking the Gamman pier at Busan Port yesterday morning, and the police began pushing the protesters out of entrance roads around 10:30 a.m. An activist was injured after falling to the ground and taken to a hospital. Two labor union members were taken to a police station for questioning. About 3,300 tons of American beef, which arrived before last year’s ban, are stored at the port’s six warehouses. Following the adoption of additional safeguards struck with Washington earlier this month, the government published a set of new quarantine regulations in its official gazette in yesterday’s edition. The new safeguards effectively barred the import of beef from cattle older than 30 months. The government’s rules went into effect at 9 a.m. yesterday. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said yesterday that it has begun receiving inspection applications from importers to resume American beef sales, but decided to postpone the actual quarantine process until today. The inspections were initially scheduled to begin yesterday afternoon. As of 2 p.m. yesterday, 12 applications from three importers had been filed. If inspections start today they will be the first in eight months. Inspections were halted last year after bone fragments were found inside American beef packages. Korea had previously allowed imports of U.S. boneless beef, which was thought to be safe from mad cow disease. But the latest beef deal reached under the Lee Myung-bak administration reopened the market to most beef cuts. The inspection and approval process takes about three to four days, so previously imported U.S. beef is expected to be sold here next week. After that, meat from U.S. slaughterhouses is expected to arrive in two or three weeks. President Lee, his senior secretaries and cabinet met yesterday morning to discuss what happens next. “It’s time to conclude this beef crisis and concentrate the nation’s energy on saving our economy,” Lee was quoted as saying by his spokesman, Lee Dong-kwan. “The government has done its best to create additional safeguards, providing double and triple layers of safety to protect public health.” Lee said the government had to take the last administrative step to reopen the Korean market to U.S. beef by publishing the new quarantine rules because “we will lose the trust of the international community.” Prime Minister Han Seung-soo also issued a statement to the nation yesterday promising that the government will thoroughly monitor the inspection process and the labeling of the origin of beef products. “We will make sure that you will not be worried about the beef issue ever again,” Han said in his address. “The candlelight vigils have now changed into violent demonstrations to oust this democratic administration,” Han said. “It’s very unfortunate. The government will do its best to protect law and order” by asking protesters to leave the streets. By Ser Myo-ja Staff Reporter [myoja@joongang.co.kr] |
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