The office of President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday that the government will do its best to produce a "renegotiation-like" effect in the upcoming "additional" negotiation of South Korea's deal to restart U.S. beef imports.
Thousands of local opponents of the mid-April deal have held daily anti-government protest rallies nationwide for over a month, demanding a renegotiation of the deal to eliminate public fear of mad cow disease that is frequently associated with the consumption of beef from older cattle.
But President Lee and his aides have refused, warning any attempt to renegotiate the formally signed agreement would backfire, damaging South Korea's external credit rating and hindering its ongoing effort to conclude a free trade agreement with the U.S., the European Union and other trading partners.
"A renegotiation, which can be possible only after the nullification of the April agreement, would run directly counter to international trade practices," said a ranking official at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
"The government will try to persuade the public to trust its capability to secure the safety of the U.S. beef imports through the upcoming additional negotiations between the two nations' top trade negotiators," said the official.
On Thursday morning, South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon announced his plan to meet U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab in Washington later this week to seek a revision of the April deal.
The Cheong Wa Dae official noted the government will secure a written guarantee by the U.S. government to ban exports of American beef from cattle older than 30 months, considered at greater risk of mad cow disease, to mitigate resistance from the proponents of a renegotiation.
Other officials at Cheong Wa Dae also explained that the protesters' demand for a renegotiation can hardly be accepted because of some "impure and political" element of the anti-government candlelight rallies.
Even if a renegotiation is conducted, politically oriented opponents, backed by the health-conscious public, may attempt to exert influence over every detail of the negotiations and cause a diplomatic conflict, said the officials.
Source:Xinhua
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