Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) - George Bush's last visit to Asia as U.S. president begins today: his first stop is be in South Korea, where a protest demonstration is planned against the decision of the Seoul government to resume importing American beef, suspended after the crisis of "mad cow" disease.
According to the website of the South Korean movement AntiMadCow, the group that has been organizing demonstrations against president Lee Myung Bak for more than two months will hold a protest torchlight procession at seven o'clock this evening in Cheonggyecheon, the central square in the capital, with the participation of about 10,000 people. A second demonstration, planned by university students, will be held outside the United States embassy in Seoul.
In order to guarantee security for George Bush and his entourage, South Korea has proposed massive security measures: more than 7,000 policemen will patrol the streets of the capital through which the presidential motorcade will run, while 16,000 agents in riot gear will launch over the peaceful unfolding of the demonstrations. The visit of the U.S. head of state to South Korea was expected last July, but it was delayed for reasons of security, given the increase in protests against the resumption of importing American beef. "To the chief administrator in charge of the beef agreement, we will express our position, in a peaceful way, that the Korean people cannot accept [the deal] because of the risk of mad cow disease".
The United States government is taking the protests philosophically, emphasizing that "the demonstrations are a sign of the level of democracy reached by the country". According to Dennis Wilder, director of the US Security Council for Asia, "we have no problem at all with the fact that the South Korean people want to provide their opinion".
In addition to the suspension of the agreement on beef imports from the United States into Korea, the demonstrators are asking that the agreement on bilateral trade between the two countries be stricken down, and that South Korean troops leave Iraq, because of fear of the possibility that Bush might ask his Asian ally for more men in the Gulf.
In the upcoming days, the U.S. president will fly to China to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Olympic Games, scheduled for Beijing beginning on August 8.