South Korean President Approaches Rival to Become Pm

The embattled South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, has approached his main conservative rival to become prime minister, as he battles for political survival in a row over US beef imports.

Lee has unofficially called on Park Geun-hye, his chief rival for control of the conservative Grand National Party (GNP), to head the government, an unidentified aide close to Park told Reuters.

"There is a chance she could accept if a formal request is made because the situation is so difficult," the aide said.

About 80,000 people demonstrated into the early hours of this morning in Seoul in the largest protest yet against his decision in April to lift restrictions on imports of US beef despite fears over BSE, or mad cow disease.

The president's entire cabinet offered to resign yesterday over the issue.

Lee, who took office in February, said today his government intended to make a fresh start after weeks of rallies that put paid to any prospect of a political honeymoon with the electorate.

"I thought about a lot of things while watching protests last night," Lee told a gathering of leaders of small businesses, according to South Korean media pool reports. "The government intends to make a start with a new determination."

Lee has not yet said whether he will accept the cabinet resignations, but he is expected to reshuffle his ministers, possibly appointing a new agriculture minister in an effort to take the sting out of the beef dispute. He expressed concern, however, that the resignations might cause "a vacuum in state affairs" amid rising oil prices and other economic difficulties.

Media attention has focused on the possibility that Lee will turn to Park to revive his political fortunes. Aides to Park, the popular daughter of the late president, Park Chung-hee, said they would persuade her to take the post if Lee officially proposed it, according to reports.

Park, who once ran the GNP, is seen as someone who could unite a divided party and restore direction to Lee's government.

South Korea was the third biggest market for US beef until it banned imports after a case of mad cow disease - the first of three confirmed cases in the US - was detected in 2003.

After lifting the ban, the president was accused of putting good relations with the US ahead of public health, even though experts say there is little risk of catching BSE.

What began as small protests mushroomed into daily mass demonstrations attracting South Koreans from all classes and ages, from schoolchildren to smartly-dressed businessmen.

The candlelit vigils in the center of Seoul have become a nightly ritual and the beef issue has become a lightning rod for all sorts of grievances against Lee, the former boss of Hyundai and a former mayor of Seoul.

In a bid to appease the public, Lee's government asked the US not to export beef older than 30 months, which is considered at greater risk of infection with mad cow disease. But the president has rejected calls for a complete renegotiation of the accord, citing possible diplomatic and trade disputes with the US.

"We're not considering a renegotiation," the deputy trade minister, Ahn Ho-young, told reporters. "If we break our promise, the consequences are enormous. South Korea will become an unreliable country."

The beef issue threatens to overshadow a forthcoming visit to Seoul by the US president, George Bush. Unless the beef row is defused, Bush can expect massive protests to greet his trip.