Thousands protest in Seoul against U.S. beef

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Tens of thousands of activists rallied overnight and into Wednesday in the largest demonstration yet against the planned resumption of U.S. beef imports, failing to be placated by the South Korean Cabinet's offer to resign.

President Lee Myung-bak was expected to accept the resignations of a few ministers, which would not affect his ability to serve out his single, five-year term.

The Cabinet's offer to resign Tuesday was an attempt to defuse the beef crisis that has sparked weeks of protests and paralyzed Lee's government less than four months after the former Hyundai CEO took office following a landslide election win.

What started as a trickle of small protests against a beef deal with the U.S. has swelled into a torrent of anti-government street rallies -- sometimes violent -- invoking the memory of pro-democracy movements in the 1980s that brought down the then-military dictatorship. Watch massive protests in Seoul »

Protests starting Tuesday fell on the anniversary of pro-democracy protests in 1987 that intensified when a student activist died after being struck by a tear gas canister fired by riot police.

"I came to the rally again because Lee has turned the clock back to 21 years ago," said Hyun Jong-chul, 45, an office worker at Tuesday's protest in Seoul, the largest anti-beef rally so far that police said peaked at some 80,000 demonstrators.

Some 21,000 riot police were deployed to keep order in the city center, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said, and authorities blocked roads with shipping containers to prevent the crowd from marching to the nearby presidential Blue House.

Rallies continued until early Wednesday but no clashes or injuries were reported. Police said they arrested about 20 protesters on charges of occupying major Seoul streets and causing traffic congestion.

Small-scale candlelight vigils involving several thousands of people were also expected in Seoul on Wednesday night, according to police and protest organizers.

Lee, a pro-American conservative, agreed in April just before a summit with U.S. President George W. Bush to reopen the country's beef market -- resolving the issue that had long been an irritant in bilateral ties.

South Korea was the third-largest overseas customer for U.S. beef until it banned imports after a case of mad cow disease -- the first of three confirmed in the United States -- was detected in 2003.

But a growing number of protesters have called for Lee's ouster for allegedly playing Russian roulette with their health and acting as a "dictator" who turns a deaf ear to the public.

Lee's government said it has asked the U.S. not to export beef from older cattle -- considered at greater risk of mad cow disease -- but rejected calls for a complete renegotiation of the accord, citing possible diplomatic and trade disputes with the U.S.

Lee dispatched several official delegations to Washington on Monday to seek assurances the U.S. will not ship beef from cattle older than 30 months, even though that is allowed under the agreement.

Both Seoul and Washington insist U.S. beef is safe, citing the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health.

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