S.Korea warns crackdown on protests over U.S. beef

By Jack Kim

SEOUL, June 8 (Reuters) - The South Korean government vowed on Sunday to crack down on street protests after daily candle-lit rallies against President Lee Myung-bak's decision to resume imports of U.S. beef turned into a violent clash with police.

Critics say the deal could expose South Koreans to mad cow disease from infected beef.

The dispute over U.S. beef imports has wider implications because it could derail a separate free-trade deal between the two countries that studies said would boost two-way trade by $20 billion annually.

Lee, clearly caught by surprise by mounting protests over the past month, has so far refused to scrap the deal but said he would not allow in meat from cattle more than 30-months old and on Saturday spoke to U.S. President George W. Bush to seek his help.

"We will have no choice but to take action to enforce law and order if social confusion continues to increase in a way that goes beyond the level acceptable to the average person," Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han said in a televised statement.

The warning came after an all-night rally turned violent and some protesters wielded steel pipes against police when officers moved in to break them up.

A small group of protesters continued the rally after dawn, blocking a 16-lane road in the city centre.

South Korea imposed a blanket ban on U.S. beef imports after an outbreak of mad cow disease in 2003. It briefly allowed in boneless beef from cattle under 30 months before suspending that last year after finding bone chips in shipments.

Saturday night's rally drew about 40,000 people according to police estimate, many of whom were young students, parents with toddlers in strollers and union members, calling for the repeal of the beef deal and Lee's ouster before it turned violent.

Lee is serving a single five-year term after winning a landslide victory on a pro-business platform and a pledge to boost the economy.

But much of his policy agenda has been put on hold because parliament is mired by an opposition boycott.

INTENSE PRESSURE

Lee has so far weathered intense political pressure and refused to give in to demands that his government renegotiate the beef deal because such a move could backfire and cause "tremendous problems" for South Korea's export-dependent economy.

Lee and Bush discussed the free-trade pact during their call on Saturday and Bush expressed "his strong commitment to secure promptly congressional approval", a White House spokesman said.

Uncertainties about the future of the Korean beef market, which was the third-largest U.S. export market with an annual turnover of $850 million a year, have fuelled opposition among some lawmakers to the broader trade pact.

South Korean opposition lawmakers have boycotted a new session of parliament, dealing a blow to Lee and his plan to push sweeping economic reforms.

They have also threatened to shelve the U.S. free-trade agreement until Lee's government renegotiates the beef deal so that it bans imported beef from the United States from cattle 30 months and older.

Agricultural officials say there is a greater risk of catching mad cow disease from cattle older than 30 months. (Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by David Fogarty)