Source: http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Rice_urges ... 82008.html
Published: Saturday June 28, 2008
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged South Koreans Saturday to trust official assurances that US beef is safe, following weeks of sometimes violent protests against the resumption of imports.
Seoul's decision to resume the imports has sparked mass demonstrations against the supposed dangers of mad cow disease and against government policies in general.
About 15,000 people, according to police estimates, squared off against riot units in central Seoul Saturday night. Police fired water cannons to disperse protesters who hurled eggs at officers and smashed windows of police buses.
Rice got a close-up look at the protests when about 20 people gathered outside the foreign ministry as she arrived for talks with her counterpart, Yu Myung-Hwan.
"We don't need US troops, we don't need US mad cows," read one sign.
South Korea on Thursday authorised the imports after securing extra health safeguards in talks in Washington.
"We continue to try to address the concerns of the South Korean government and I think we believe we made progress," Rice told reporters on her plane to Seoul.
"We have, with the South Korean government, addressed concerns. We have come to a new set of arrangements, a new set of agreements.
"I can only say that American beef is safe and that we hope in time the South Korean people will listen to that, and will be willing to listen to what their government is saying and what we are saying."
The United States, she said, "believes strongly in the safety of its product and strongly in the benefits of trade between the US and an ally like South Korea."
At a joint press conference with the South Korean foreign minister, she dismissed suggestions the dispute was weakening ties.
"We have a strong alliance that has gotten stronger over the years...in terms of difficulties that sometimes arise in trade disputes, they are normal," she said.
Seoul signed a deal in April to resume the imports, suspended in 2003 after a US mad cow case, in hopes of pushing forward with a wider free trade agreement (FTA).
After the street protests, Seoul went back to Washington to secure extra safeguards -- though both governments insist the meat is safe.
The FTA was signed last year but must be ratified by the legislatures of both countries.
"This is a very good agreement for both Korea and for the United States," Rice said. "We're going to continue trying to get the agreement ratified."
