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President Lee Myung-bak on Wednesday promised the government will immediately suspend imports of U.S. beef and take appropriate measures if reopening of the beef market were to pose any threat to the people's health. Lee made these remarks in a policy briefing from the North Jeolla provincial government, his first from a local administration. "The government is determined to take firm measures if there is any threat at all to people's health and life."
In a hearing the same day at the National Assembly's Agriculture, Forestry, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Committee, Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-chun said, the government ¡°will immediately suspend American beef imports if mad cow disease should break out in the U.S."
Chung said suspension of imports is possible based on the Article 20 of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Clause B of the article allows exceptions when measures to protect the life and health of living beings are deemed necessary. With the series of remarks, the Korean government hinted it could partially break the agreement signed between Korea and the U.S. on April 18 to resume import of virtually all U.S. beef if a threat of BSE were to arise. According to the agreement Korea cannot ban imports before the world organization for animal health (OIE) lowers the status of the U.S. as a controlled BSE risk country.
Opposition parties, however, continued to demand renegotiation, dismissing the change in the government¡¯s position as a temporary solution to paper over the cracks. Opposition lawmakers pressed government officials hard, asking whether the agreement was hastily signed prior to the Korea-U.S. summit, but officials denied this, saying the current administration only concluded ongoing negotiation that began in April 2007 under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
Democratic Labor Party member Kang Ki-kab said he saw a confidential document approved by Agriculture Minister Chung on April 10, a week before the agreement was signed, which Kang said shows how passive the Korean government was during the negotiations. Chung denied this, saying the government ¡°made no unilateral concessions¡±, and that the current administration only added ¡°the final touches¡± to negotiations that had been going on since last year.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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