South Korea

Police arrest protesters against US beef imports

Article published on the 2008-06-01 Latest update 2008-06-01 11:26 TU

A police officer strikes a protestor on US beef protest
(Photo: Reuters)

South Korean police used water-cannons against demonstrators trying to march on the presidential palace overnight and arresting 228 people. The clashes followed a candlelight vigil attended by about 20,000 people to oppose the government's dropping of a ban on the import of US beef.

A Seoul police representative said that 228 protesters were detained and "subject to interrogation for possible punishment".

There were stormy scenes overnight as demonstrators and police clashed, but no serious injuries have been reported.

The protestors, some of whom chanted "Down with President Lee Myun-Bak", say that US beef could be tainted with Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis (BSE), the so-called "mad cow disease". Seoul imposed a ban in December 2003 when BSE broke out in the US but agreed to lift it in April.

South Korean academic Noh Jong-Sun told RFI that the protest is turning into a movement against the president.

"His popularity was 75 per cent at the start. Now it has dropped down to 20 per cent," he said. "It is not only the crisis of the beef agreement but the whole economy."

Last month the Korean parliament blocked a free trade deal with the US and demanded that the beef ban be reinstated. Farmers and trade unionists have demonstrated against the deal several times this year.