hankyoreh

The single biggest reason the Korean people have a beef with the question of American beef is because the ideas the Korean and United States governments have for resolving it are all too different from what the Korean people want. If things continue like this, President Lee Myung-bak’s administration, for one, and the foundations of the U.S.-Korea relationship could collapse. The situation is one that requires both governments to make an extraordinary effort.

Korean public opinion already wants a complete renegotiation of the beef deal. More than 80 percent of the country wants an entirely new deal, and now even the ruling party wants one, too. The scale, intensity, and variety of participants in the street protests continue to grow. The mood is like a “Second June Struggle,” the June Struggle of 1987 having been a significant event in Korea’s democracy movement. The Lee government’s attempts to find easy escapes from the situation, instead of asking the United States to negotiate a new deal, only made matters worse, as did the idea of having private companies voluntarily refrain from dealing in American beef over 30 months old. The president cannot win back the people’s confidence with artful tricks meant to evade the issue.

The United States might think there is no reason to renegotiate. On paper, that may somewhat be the case. Two governments arrived at a deal, and nothing has surfaced that suggests the United States is responsible for any wrongdoing. The U.S. government is in a position where it has to consider the interests of a meat industry that has already begun preparing to export to Korea, and how any changes might influence negotiations with other export destinations. In fact it was the Korea, not the United States, that messed up the deal from the start.

However, the reality of the situation goes beyond this formal logic. Right now the Lee government is in a position where it cannot really announce the resumption of American beef imports, and where it cannot have that beef be distributed either. Its moves that disregard the people are more than a matter of beef; they could ignite a full-scale and national anti-government struggle. Clearly, Koreans’ attitude towards the United States and American products will change in a big way, too. The United States stands to lose far more than what it would be gaining in a Korean beef market worth between hundreds of millions and tens of billions of dollars yearly.

The best solution would be for the Korean government to demand new negotiations and for the United States to accept that request and find a rational compromise. Alexander Vershbow, the U.S. ambassador to Korea, in referring to the safety of American beef, is said to have uttered that he hopes the Korean people learn some more science. That kind of attitude is only going to incite anger among the Korean public. Every country has the right to not import food that its people do not think is safe.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]