Lee accuses FTA opponents of spreading mad cow disease fears
Yonhap News, Seoul
Lee accuses FTA opponents of spreading mad cow disease fears
By Yoo Cheong-mo
8 May 2008
SEOUL, May 8 (Yonhap) — President Lee Myung-bak renewed Thursday his pledge to prioritize the health of the Korean people in his government’s policy to restart U.S. beef imports, accusing opponents of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement of spreading groundless fears of mad cow disease.
"When Korea and the U.S. concluded beef import negotiations, my government expected a dispute over damage to the local beef industry to break out. But the dispute has unexpectedly shifted to mad cow disease," Lee said.
"I suspect the people (spreading fears of mad cow disease) are the opponents of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement," said Lee, meeting with reporters over lunch at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
The unscheduled luncheon meeting took place as Lee visited Cheong Wa Dae’s pressroom cafeteria to dine on traditional Korean chicken soup, called "samgyetang," as avian influenza has been spreading across the nation lately, triggering fears over consumption of chicken and other poultry.
"I came here to keep my previous promise to eat chicken. Therefore, the nation doesn’t need to be concerned about imported beef, because I have already promised to protect the people’s health and lives from hazardous imported meat. The U.S. won’t be able to force-feed (dangerous beef) to the Korean people," Lee said at the meeting.
"The final choice belongs to the buyer. If the U.S. beef is considered harmful, we won’t eat it. The government’s top priority is to safeguard the lives and properties of the people. The public health will be prioritized. Thus, food-related foul play by local vendors will also be harshly punished," said the president.
In a separate meeting with provincial officials on Wednesday, Lee said his government will immediately suspend U.S. beef imports if the health of the Korean people is threatened following the planned reopening of the country’s beef market.
Lee’s repeated remarks came amid intensifying public fears over mad cow disease, with U.S. beef imports set to resume next week in the wake of the Lee government’s decision last month to lift a ban on them.
The Korean government has come under pressure to revise details of the beef market agreement with the U.S., reached on the eve of Lee’s Camp David summit with U.S. President George W. Bush on April 19, though it has officially ruled out the possibility of renegotiation.
