S.Korea's Lee to ask Bush for help over beef fears
SEOUL, June 7 (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, bruised by daily protests over U.S. beef imports, will call President George W. Bush on Saturday to ask for help in ensuring no meat from older cattle will be shipped, an official said.
Lee, bowing to political pressure and mounting street protests against a deal to fully reopen its market to U.S. beef over safety concerns, has said he would not allow in meat from cattle over 30 months old.
"President Lee Myung-bak will speak directly to President Bush this evening on the telephone," spokeswoman Grace Kim said.
"He will convey the concerns among our public over U.S. beef and ask for President Bush's understanding and cooperation in ensuring that beef from cattle older than 30 months will not be exported," she said.
Lee has seen his support rate plummet to 20 percent since winning office in a landslide in December. Thousands have taken to the streets daily to protest the deal and more than 60,000 protested Friday night calling for his ouster.
Lee began a single five-year term in February.
The government this week postponed the resumption of imports for the second time since signing the deal and said it would try to find a way to exclude beef from older cattle, which the public sees as more dangerous, from entering the country.
But Lee has refused to give in to demands that his government renegotiate the deal, which was signed in April, because such a move would backfire and cause "tremendous problems" for South Korea's export-dependent economy.
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 could boost two-way trade by $20 billion annually.
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 U.S. 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.
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 of age before suspending that last year after finding bone chips in shipments. (Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Alex Richardson)
Lee, bowing to political pressure and mounting street protests against a deal to fully reopen its market to U.S. beef over safety concerns, has said he would not allow in meat from cattle over 30 months old.
"President Lee Myung-bak will speak directly to President Bush this evening on the telephone," spokeswoman Grace Kim said.
"He will convey the concerns among our public over U.S. beef and ask for President Bush's understanding and cooperation in ensuring that beef from cattle older than 30 months will not be exported," she said.
Lee has seen his support rate plummet to 20 percent since winning office in a landslide in December. Thousands have taken to the streets daily to protest the deal and more than 60,000 protested Friday night calling for his ouster.
Lee began a single five-year term in February.
The government this week postponed the resumption of imports for the second time since signing the deal and said it would try to find a way to exclude beef from older cattle, which the public sees as more dangerous, from entering the country.
But Lee has refused to give in to demands that his government renegotiate the deal, which was signed in April, because such a move would backfire and cause "tremendous problems" for South Korea's export-dependent economy.
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 could boost two-way trade by $20 billion annually.
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 U.S. 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.
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 of age before suspending that last year after finding bone chips in shipments. (Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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