Police place South Korean flags on cargo containers that hold sand to form a barricade to block a planned protest march on a street leading to the U.S. embassy and the presidential Blue House in central Seoul June 10, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

However, the beef import agreement caused considerable controversy. On almost every evening since May 2 candlelight assemblies have been held in downtown Seoul and in front of the National Assembly in Yeoido to protest and pressure the Lee Myung-bak administration to renegotiate the agreement. Participants repeatedly numbered hundreds of thousand, and it was claimed that the beef pact will not protect South Koreans from disease.

Meanwhile, in the US some legislators have warned they will not ratify the free trade agreement unless Seoul first opens its beef market.

The beef storm resulted in a major crisis for the South Korean Government, and emphasized the people's dissatisfaction with the new Government's foreign policy, according to Zhan.

A recent poll showed that in only 107 days Lee Myung-bak's support has dropped from 70 percent to lower than 20 percent.

(China.org.cn by Zhou Jing, June 11, 2008)