SKorean police detain 68 protesters over US beef rally
26 May 2008
SKorean police detain 68 protesters over US beef rally
SEOUL (AFP) - Sixty-eight protesters have been detained after participating in street demonstrations against South Korea’s decision to resume imports of US beef, police said Monday.
Police said 37 people were taken into custody Sunday over an illegal anti-government demonstration following a candle-lit vigil in central Seoul.
Another 31 people were detained early Monday when police blocked hundreds of demonstrators from marching towards the office of President Lee Myung-Bak.
Thousands of South Koreans have been staging rallies over the past few weeks. They say the government has not secured enough safeguards against the dangers posed by the human form of mad cow disease.
The government dismisses the critics’ claims as groundless, defending the resumption of imports as a catalyst for a US-South Korean free trade deal to be ratified in the US Congress.
Lee apologised last week for failing to ease "mad cow" fears but urged legislators to quickly pass the free trade deal.
South Korean Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-Chun is expected to announce the resumption of US beef imports on Tuesday.
Seoul banned US beef imports in December 2003 after a mad cow disease outbreak in the United States. It resumed the imports in April 2007, but halted them in October after banned backbones were found in a shipment.
