By Xinhua,
Beijing : South Korea’s government said Tuesday violent anti-government protests were putting further strains on the nation’s troubled economy and vowed to use “all means possible” to stem the daily rallies.
The streets of central Seoul have often turned into battlefields in recent weeks, as stick-wielding protesters faced off against police barricades and water cannons. Demonstrators have repeatedly attempted to march on the office of President Lee Myung-bak, who took office in February, to protest a beef import deal with the United States.
The protests, which drew up to 80,000 people in June, have dwindled in size but have become more violent. The worst clash occurred Saturday night, when more than 200 protesters and riot police were injured.
“Related ministries and agencies, including police and the prosecution, should employ all means allowed by law to root out illegal, violent rallies and restore the order of law,” Prime Minister Han Seung-soo told a Cabinet meeting, according to a government website.
Protesters have demanded the government renegotiate the April beef deal with the United States due to concerns about mad cow disease, and the backlash prompted Seoul to win amendments to the agreement last month that added health safeguards. The government has rejected full renegotiations, saying that would hurt Seoul’s credibility.
Ordinary citizens used to make up a large portion of the daily candlelight rallies, with mothers concerned over food safety turning out at street protests with baby strollers. But the government now believes that anti-government activists are stoking the continuing demonstrations.
“What began as a peaceful candlelight rally has changed in nature to a point where it is difficult to see any purity” in its cause, Han said.
U.S. beef was banned for most of the past 4 1/2 years, since the first case of mad cow disease in the United States was discovered in late 2003. Eating meat products contaminated with mad cow disease is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal human malady.