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near Seoul city hall April 28. Civic groups are planning to hold a large vigil on May 2. (by Kim Bong-gyu

By Ahn Chang-hyun and Park Soo-hyuk, staff writers

While politicians on both sides of the aisle are clamoring for a halt to quarantine inspections after a cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered in the US, the Blue House alone is maintaining that no safety issue exists and such a halt is out of the question.

“While we can certainly understand politicians’ concerns, the government believes an import halt would be excessive,” senior public relations secretary Choi Keum-nak said Sunday

“There is no connection between the ten-year, seven-month-old BSE-infected dairy cow discovered this time and the beef that comes into South Korea,” Choi added. “So there is no safety issue.”

Another Blue House official voiced displeasure with recent media reports claiming that it is considering a halt to beef imports. “There is no truth to that,” the official said. “They are pointlessly fanning citizen worries.”

Previously, New Frontier Party leader Park Geun-hye joined in the calls from opposition parties and civil groups for an import halt. “We should stop our quarantine inspections for the time being,” Park said Friday.

Thailand, which like South Korea imported only beef from cattle younger than 30 months, instituted a temporary halt to imports. Indonesia has also halted imports, as they import US beef from cows older than 30 months, who are more vulnerable to BSE.

The reason given by the Blue House is that the government should not allow itself to get swept up in the roiling public sentiment against US beef. The argument is that while ruling and opposition party politicians are bound to be sensitive to public feeling with a presidential election coming up at the end of the year, the administration needs to consider “international norms” alongside citizen health. Measures like a quarantine inspection halt can generate trade fictions.

Choi said, “Even if politicians decide to increase the welfare budget, the administration has to bear the responsibility for financial soundness. Likewise, the administration has to look at international norms in addition to beef safety issues.”

But analysts are suggesting that the Blue House’s real concern is relations with the US. President Lee Myung-bak’s April 2008 pledge to keep the South Korean market open to US beef was seen as a move to strengthen the two countries’ alliance. According to these observers, Lee would be loath to harm the positive relationship established with the Barack Obama administration over beef safety concerns that may not be founded.

There is a sense in the Blue House that the BSE issue is nothing more than a political gambit, with the opposition and civic groups using the disease‘s discovery for a political attack on Lee.

A senior official said, “It really does seem like the mad cow disease in the US combined with opposition to the current administration to flare up into an issue for the entire political community.”

Lee has been noticeably reluctant to directly address this issue. After a May 2008 radiobroadcast he sought to win over the public with expressions of “consternation” at “mad cow disease urban legends”. He apologized a month later, announcing that he had “heard ‘Morning Dew’ from the foothills behind the Blue House,” a reference to an anthem sung by protesters.

“Is this really something for the President to take action on?” a senior Blue House official asked rhetorically. “Why have a government if the President speaks out on every issue?” Lee apparently does not intend to get caught up in the furor.

A halt to inspections is also being viewed as increasingly unavoidable among veterinarians who serve as quarantine experts for the Animal, Plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency.

“With increased inspections, the public servants in charge are opening up close to 8,000 crates of imported beef per day [averaging 22 kg in weight] and smelling each one of them,” a veterinarian said Sunday.

“It’s mortifying to see this kind of meaningless, hoodwinking ploy,” the veterinarian lamented.

Another said, “If they’re positive it’s safe, they should just send it through customs with the normal inspections. And if they think the people and their pledge matter, they should halt imports.”

While the government has continued imports, sales of US beef have dropped by half at supermarkets and restaurants.

According to supermarket reports Sunday, sales of US beef were down 52% from the same day the week before in sales trends calculated by E-mart, a major food retailer, on Apr. 26, the day after news of the US BSE case broke. Another large supermarket chain, HomePlus, which resumed sales after a temporary halt, saw US beef sales drop on Apr. 26 and 27 by 40% from the same period the week before.

Lotte Mart has suspended sales since Apr. 25, citing customer concerns.

Jeon Yeong-sun, a 43-year-old homemaker visiting an Emart in Chuncheon, Gangwon, on Sunday, said, “I’m a homemaker responsible for my family’s safety, so I have no choice but to stay away from US beef.”

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