Behind South Koreans' Worries About U.S. Beef

South Korean protesters march with a mockup symbolizing "US mad-cow" during a rally against US beef imports in Seoul.

In the brouhaha that followed the ban's removal this spring, disaffected liberal leaders found a potent weapon in their fight against Lee. "The anti-beef protests provided an invaluable pretext for opponents of the current administration to gain wider public support than would otherwise have been possible," Timothy Lim, an associate professor at Cal State-Los Angeles, wrote in an E-mail. "The way things have played out so far, it would be much more accurate to say that the protests are anti-Lee than they are anti-U.S."

Other cultural factors must also be considered, observers say. In general, the act of protesting is an accepted practice in South Korea, a remnant of the culture of dissent that was fostered in the 1970s and 1980s when authoritarian regimes ruled the country. "When I was a student in the '70s," Chae said, "we took it out on the street." South Korea became a democracy in the late '80s, yet protests have remained vibrant. "Even after the authoritarian era ended," Lim wrote, "it remained common practice to station squads or bus loads of riot police on streets around college campuses, the U.S. Embassy, or other sensitive locations...because there was almost always the potential for a small rally to turn into a major protest." Today, he says, because of Korea's volatile recent history, it is still relatively easy to turn out people en masse.

Last week, representatives from the Lee administration met with U.S. trade officials in Washington in an attempt to renegotiate Lee's ill-received beef deal. (Lee has already publicly apologized for his actions.) The talks, which continued through the weekend without resolution, resumed Monday. At minimum, South Korean officials say they want the U.S. government to pledge to ship only cattle under the age of 30 months, which are less susceptible to BSE. The United States has issued conflicting responses, but even if it consents, the people of South Korea will most likely still be wary. "There is a perception by the South Korean people that we are forced to import this beef," says Park. "Even if it has a small, very small, chance of getting mad cow disease, we say, 'Why should we risk our lives when we are buying it, when we are the consumer?' "