hankyoreh

By Song Chae Kyung-hwa, staff writer
Park Geun-hye said on Friday that “quarantine should be stopped for now” after a cow was found with mad cow disease in the US last week.
Meeting reporters while on a visit to the South Gyeongsang province NFP organization in Changwon, Park said, “The government must not incur the misunderstanding that it is more interested in avoiding trade friction than in the hygiene and safety of the Korean public. Quarantine should be ceased until the public can be put at ease through an epidemiological study and, if the final results of analysis indicate even a slight problem with safety, imports should be ceased too.”
When asked whether the Blue House’s stance toward the possibility of quarantine was a negative one, Park repeated, “We don’t even know how long it will take; won’t the public feel uneasy during this time? Since the public can only be put at ease and quarantine resumed if a definite result is obtained fast, it’s better to move fast and obtain definite information [after ceasing quarantine].”
Earlier on the same day, at a meeting of top party executives, NFP parliamentary floor leader Hwang Woo-yeo said, “The right way to go is introducing restrictions first, then easing them later if safety is confirmed. [The public] clearly recalls the advertisements run by the government on May 8, 2008, which said imports would be ceased if BSE broke out. It‘s important for the government to preserve credibility and show the public a clear stance of taking responsibility.”
　
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