Huge Seoul protests threatens to topple government

Huge Seoul protests threatens to topple government

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SEOUL: President Lee Myung Bak confronted the biggest challenge to his young and unpopular administration Tuesday as tens of thousands of demonstrators filled central Seoul to protest his agreement to resume imports of American beef and to denounce a broad range of other government policies.

The entire cabinet offered to resign as a way to help Lee find a way out of the crisis. It was unclear how many cabinet members Lee would replace, but he indicated that the changes could be substantial.

Lee's 107-day-old government has been beset by fears - partly stoked by media reports and his critics - that his agreement to reopen South Korea to American beef could expose the public to mad cow disease.

In a way, lifting the import ban on American beef was a long overdue action that Seoul had promised to take once the World Organization for Animal Health ruled American beef safe, as it did last September.

But until Lee, politicians here had shunned taking the political risk because, among left-leaning or nationalistic young South Koreans, the issue has become a test of whether Seoul can stand up to Washington.

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This really is interesting when put in the context of the last sentence of the clip:

But until Lee, politicians here had shunned taking the political risk because, among left-leaning or nationalistic young South Koreans, the issue has become a test of whether Seoul can stand up to Washington.

To think an issue of beef would end up being seen as a matter of soverignity.


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(visit the link for the full news article)

It's not a beef issue, it's a public health issue, as there is a mad cow disease epidemic in the US and there is an underpar veterinary screening. Some people have even linked the cattle mutilations to it...

Originally posted by grover

To think an issue of beef would end up being seen as a matter of soverignity.

www.iht.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

It is and would be for India.

Cows are sacred in India and is a lot closer to Seoul than Washington is.

And looking at the USA's methods of getting things 'passed' safe and fit for human consumption or getting particular drugs cleared for increasing the yield of animals, is another thought to be considered.

The USA FDA is the bastard child of Frankensteins monster and Dr Moreaus mad experiments.

Unsafe, mad, and totally wrong.

They say oh yes aspartames safe.... and its not. They say GM food is safe, and its not. They say.... the list goes on.

As for the Koreans saying NO! to washington ? awesome, power to the Koreans i say.

If more people said no to washingtons killer elite the world would be a better place.

maybe the US people should take some pionter from these people and toople our goverment.

I agree with some of you it is good to stand of for things that are right like the beef issues but when you look at the big picture S Korea has been real tight on things we can sell there like automobiles and to me this is not fair considering all the buying we do from them. Hence the trade imbalance with them.

Originally posted by Zepherian
It's not a beef issue, it's a public health issue, as there is a mad cow disease epidemic in the US and there is an underpar veterinary screening. Some people have even linked the cattle mutilations to it...

There is??? Holy Cow! I thought it was just one animal!

Oh man....Gotta start eating chicken!

Oh wait...they abuse the chickens....Can't eat that!


How about Fish? Oh wait...They've over-tapped the fish!

Screw it, I'll just sit in the corner and cry like a little girl....and starve.

The problem isn't the FDA. The problem is the corporate lackeys appointed there. Everything they do is for the commercial controllers not the people. You all should know this by now. The FDA is manned by crony's of the big businesses, and they do as they are told and get away with as much as the congress and senate allow them to.

You have to know that if the government were populated by civil servants who loyalty was to the public good this kind of crap wouldn't happen all the time.

The people of the other countries of the world KNOW this about us, which is why they don't trust our exported beef. But here in the US the media informs us of what to believe, so we just keep on eating the most profitable garbage they can get away with throwing at us, while they export the rest to 'other' interests.

Personally, I don't really think that South Korea is in much of a position for something like toppling their government. Doing so would likely cause some security problems for their border to the North.
They aren't exactly what you can call, ready for a radical change.
Population growth rate:
0.371% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
9.83 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate:
6.12 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
www.cia.gov...
Population growth rate is quite low.
They do still have a major Communist threat to the North of them.

There was a great guest on coast to coast a couple of weeks back talking about the whole mad cow situation in the US, his account is where I get the epidemic and unsuficient screening from. And he was a cattle rancher...

The good news is mad cow is not AIDS, I don't expect huge numbers of people to die, but of course it is another lingering health problem we could do without. So no need to panic or even have a sarcasm attack, but it is a serious issue that fully deserves public atention. The food chain should be the first worry on any population's mind.

yesterday (10 June) i swear i heard on my talk radio. 24 hr news station i constantly monitor, that Japan was or soon would be allowing some USA beef exports into Japan markets...

so i looked at meatprocess.com...
in their search engine ---I couldn't find anything newer on US beef exports
than a 2006-07 partial lifting of calf meat younger than 21 months only.


I suspect that Koreans are unsettled with being Asias test subjects for the start up of renewed USA beef exports, while Japan and others nations still ban US beef...

This has to have the CIA worried. They could lose jobs over this if all it takes to topple governments is to send them your beef.

reply to post by Maxmars


You are totally correct and one of the few on here that seems to understand that. A star for you.