S.Korea president sacks ministers for US beef deal

Source: Agencies  |   2008-7-7  |     ONLINE EDITION

SOUTH Korean President Lee Myung-bak sacked three ministers today in his first cabinet reshuffle, trying to restore support for his four-month-old government embattled over an unpopular US beef import deal.

Lee replaced his agriculture, health and education ministers. The three have been blamed for policy blunders such as the beef deal reached in April that helped drive public support for his conservative government to below 20 percent.

Lee has seen near-daily protest rallies since early May, sparked by a public concerned over mad cow disease that later turned to a broader attack on his pro-business policies.

The cabinet offered to resign en masse a month ago as protests intensified. There had been speculation in local media that Lee might also sack his foreign and finance ministers.

Lee, who scored a landslide win in a December election, said in an interview with Japan's Kyodo news agency on Sunday that if protests continue, it would be a "detrimental" factor dragging down Asia's fourth-largest economy.

South Korea recently slashed its 2008 economic growth target to a three-year low of 4.7 percent, from 6 percent previously, as commodities-led inflation bites into consumer spending and corporate investment.

The cabinet change was the latest in a series of efforts by Lee to stop the protests and check the slide in his popularity, including repeated televised apologies and the removal of all his top aides, but analysts saw the moves as too little too late.

Lee will not be able to push through reforms such as privatising state-run firms and mortgage debt relief for low-income households unless he can win back public support, analysts said.

"It is entirely possible to win back public support," said Jeong Chansoo, executive director at Min Political Consulting. "But this president has lost his appeal with the public and unless he wins that back it will be difficult."