Cabinet Offers to Resign as Protests Over U.S. Beef Build Into Indictment of Lee Myung-bak's Rule
By Stella Kim and Blaine Harden
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
SEOUL, June 10 -- As tens of thousands of people waved candles in central Seoul and other South Korean cities, a month of street demonstrations against the purported danger of U.S. beef broadened Tuesday night into a populist backlash against the country's fledgling president, Lee Myung-bak.
Lee's entire cabinet offered early Tuesday to resign to take responsibility for the beef dispute and to take heat off the president, who has been in office less than four months.
The resignation offer, which Lee did not act on, came in anticipation of what was by far the biggest night of demonstrations against his government.
The crowd in Seoul, chanting "Out with President Lee" and wearing stickers that made Lee look like a rat, included office workers, parents with children, college students and members of labor groups.
"It is too late to soothe the public with lip service, and even fixing the beef issue is too late," said Lee Hong-taek, 33, a gaming software specialist, who joined the protest after work. "The real question is his leadership style."
Police said 70,000 people protested in Seoul, while organizers put the number at 700,000. Local media estimates ranged from 400,000 to 600,000. There were no reports of clashes between protesters and police, as there were in demonstrations this spring.
Despite repeated assurances from Lee's government and the United States, many South Koreans continue to fear that U.S. beef will infect them with mad cow disease.
But people in the streets here are also angry about what they call Lee's arbitrary way of making major decisions, his tone-deaf response to public opinion and his choices of rich and, in some cases, unsavory business leaders for senior position in his government.
"The president must realize that this is a very serious situation," said Kim Hyung-suk, 60, owner of an after-school institute. "If he does not listen even now, then the next step is to demand that he steps down."
Soaring oil prices have also soured the public mood, and truckers voted Monday to go on strike for cheaper fuel, even after Lee's government offered a $10.2 billion package of aid that would provide some subsidies for gasoline and diesel fuel.
The offer by his entire cabinet to resign may give Lee an opportunity to appease populist anger, rebuild his government and recast his image.
The 66-year-old former construction company executive has stumbled badly in his first 107 days in office. After winning election last fall by the largest margin in the country's history, his approval ratings have fallen to less than 20 percent.
In April, Lee stunned many South Koreans by lifting a 4 1/2 -year ban on U.S. beef that was put in place after a dairy cow in Washington state was confirmed as the first case of mad cow disease in the United States.
After his poll numbers collapsed and as street demonstrations gathered support, Lee changed course last week and reimposed part of the beef ban. But that has done little to appease protesters.
Their anger has been embraced and magnified by labor groups and by the opposition party that Lee's Grand National Party defeated in last year's presidential election and again in a parliamentary election this spring.
In a statement Tuesday, the United Democratic Party demanded that Lee renegotiate the beef agreement with the United States.
"President Lee Myung-bak's arrogance and self-flattery are reversing the development of democracy in Korea," the party said.
Late Tuesday, about 500 students turned up in front of the ruling party building and threw raw eggs.
A presidential spokesman did not say whether Lee would accept the resignations of Prime Minister Han Seung-soo and 15 cabinet ministers. But local media have speculated that this week Lee is likely to jettison his agriculture, health and education ministers, and perhaps his foreign and finance ministers.
Tuesday's demonstrations, which took place in more than 70 cities and towns, came on the 21st anniversary of a pivotal event in South Korea's young history as a democracy. Street protests that began on this day in 1987 pushed the government, then dominated by the military, to accept a shift to a government led by a directly elected president.
In the streets of Seoul on Tuesday, many protesters complained that Lee's top-down style of decision-making reminded them of the bad old days of military rule.
"Koreans no longer will tolerate that," said Hyun Deok-soo, who said he was the chairman of a workers' union.
Harden reported from Tokyo.
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