South Korea's entire cabinet offered to resign on Tuesday in the face of massive street protests, as its increasingly unpopular president warned that Asia's fourth-largest economy could be heading into crisis.
The protests against the government, in office barely three months, were sparked by public outcry over a deal to widen its market to US beef imports and have cast a darkening cloud over President Lee Myung-bak's plans for sweeping reform.
"The prime minister offered the cabinet's resignation at the regular meeting this morning (with Lee)," a spokeswoman at the prime minister's office said, in what local media said was a response to the mounting anti-government protests.
Local media said Lee would start a government reshuffle later this week and has speculated the conservative former CEO will ditch his farm, health and education ministers, along with several aides, and possibly the foreign and finance ministers.
The April beef deal with the United States was meant to help a separate bilateral free trade accord that US congressional leaders threatened to block unless South Korea opened up its market to beef imports.
But widespread concern over mad-cow disease in US beef quickly turned the issue into a lightning rod for a broad range of grievances against Lee's government that the public increasingly sees as out of touch with its concerns. Lee won December's presidential election over an unpopular liberal foe by a landslide, largely on his pledge to bring high growth back to South Korea's export-dependent economy.
"His path to the presidency was too easy. He felt he could do no wrong and this created arrogance and confidence that made it difficult for him to see the political landscape," Kang Won-taek, a professor in political science at Soongsil University, said. Protest organisers say up to 1 million people will rally on Tuesday around the country - at least a third of them in the capital - against Lee. Police have issued their highest alert ahead of the protests, which they expect to bring about 100,000 people onto the streets of Seoul.
Police sealed off roads in the centre of the capital, stacking sand-filled shipping containers to block the main street leading to the presidential Blue House and deployed high-pressure water cannons to disperse any violent protesters. Thousands holding signs reading "Lee Myung-bak Out" gathered ahead of the candlelight rally later in the day.
Truck drivers, following the lead of unions in a number of countries across Asia and Europe, voted on Monday to go on strike over rising fuel prices. They ignored the government's $10.2 billion financial aid package announced a day before and designed in part to cushion the impact of mounting energy costs.
Other unions also voted on whether to strike and slow down production at auto plants and other factories. The growing political storm has all but blocked the government's plans for major economic reform, including tax cuts, mass privatisation of major state-run firms and banks and efforts to make the country more accessible to foreign investment.
Comments
Comments are closed.