Pres. Lee Guarantees Beef Safety in Public Apology

President Lee Myung-bak said in a special news conference Thursday that the government will not post new beef import rules nor resume U.S. beef imports unless the United States confirms our request for ban on American beef from cattle older than 30 months.

Lee said he had conveyed such positions and requests to U.S. President George W. Bush in recent telephone talks. He stressed he is willing to secure the U.S. government’s guarantee over the beef safety.

During the press conference, President Lee gave a somewhat relatively detailed background over why he was in a rush for the resumption of U.S. beef imports and that the government had to make additional negotiations instead of renegotiate the import terms.

Lee said the decision to resume imports was inevitable for the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement to be put into effect so that the nation’s sluggish economy could jump start. Moreover, he added that the government could not dare to lose trust in the international community, considering that the nation heavily depends on trade.

He explained why he had to find ways to make a breakthrough in the economic impasse at home and abroad in the wake of his inauguration, and the situation where he had to seek to resolve the key issue of beef in the FTA ratification.

“Ratification of the KORUS FTA means that we could create 340,000 new jobs each year and have our GDP grow more than 6 percent over the next decade. As president, I did not really want to lose that golden opportunity,” Lee said.

He further went on saying that, “I thought that the chances are remote for the KORUS FTA to be ratified within the year if we continue refusing to resume U.S. beef imports, along with the trade disputes with the United States.” He added, “The negotiation over lifting ban on the U.S. beef import resumption was inevitable in my opinion at the time.”

The embattled president delivered his straightforward apology over the controversy following the signing of the beef import deal with the United States on April 18. He said, “Focusing on the fact that the FTA should be ratified by the end of this year, I’ve failed to weigh public demand for food safety seriously and consider parents’ worries over their children’s health.”

He reiterated his apology, saying, “No matter how urgent a state affair it was, I and my administration should have thought carefully about public concerns and, in that regard, I deeply regret my imprudence.”

At the same time, he elaborated to get his message across to the public, saying that the additional negotiation over U.S. beef imports, which has been underway in Washington at the moment, is the only solution to resolve the two pending issues: public concerns over food safety and trade conflict with the United States.

The president revealed his anguished distress over his decision, saying that if he had focused on allaying the candlelight vigils, he would have cared less about trade conflict with the United States. He said, “In the face of rising public demand (for renegotiation), ruling and opposition parties asked me to accept public opinion and renegotiate. If I had considered only my political convenience and that the issue was strictly a domestic one, I would not have hesitated to accept the public’s demand for renegotiation.”

“If I declared to renegotiate, I would have avoided the imminent difficulties. To be honest, I had many conflicts in my mind.” He spoke out his mind, saying, “What for should I adhere to my opinion as I saw the approval rating plunge and face fierce criticisms?”

He added, “However, I could not forsake my responsibility as Korea’s president to secure the national interest given that the nation lacks natural resources and that trade is the only way for the nation to survive. I could not do that, simply because I was well aware what the nation could face in the end (by declaring to renegotiate to curry favor with the public).”

ddr@donga.com