SEOUL (AFP) — South Korea's embattled President Lee Myung-Bak Monday sacked three cabinet ministers to try to end mass protests against US beef imports which have shaken his government.
Lee replaced the agriculture minister, the minister for health and welfare and the education minister, presidential spokesman Lee Dong-Kwan said.
"The reshuffle is aimed at making a new start in an effort to overcome difficulties at home and abroad," the spokesman said, citing surging oil prices which have prompted a government energy-saving drive.
Prime Minister Han Seung-Soo kept his job to maintain stability and give him another chance, the spokesman said, adding: "Difficulties at home and abroad such as soaring oil prices were considered."
Lee's entire cabinet and top aides offered their resignations last month to take responsibility for the beef furore, which caught the new conservative government unaware.
The administration's agreement in April to resume US beef imports, suspended in 2003 following a US mad cow case, sparked weeks of mass street protests over supposed health concerns.
The candlelit rallies became a focus for wider grievances against the president, who took office only on February 25.
Lee, who has seen his popularity ratings plunge, replaced almost all his top aides last month after their offer to resign.
Seoul went back to Washington to secure extra health safeguards under the beef deal before officially resuming the imports on June 26.
Some 50,000 people by police estimates gathered Saturday in Seoul to demand the scrapping of the imports and Lee's resignation.
But Christian and Buddhist religious groups, which recently joined the rallies, announced they were suspending such activities.
A union spokesman at the largest carmaker, Hyundai Motor, said workers would down tools for two hours on Thursday and a similar period early Friday.
The union called similar stoppages last week to protest at the beef imports, prompting official warnings that political stoppages are illegal.
"This (upcoming) strike is purely related to our wage bargaining with management," the spokesman told AFP.
Police said they would start cracking down on protesters who block main streets. Lee, in a BBC interview aired Monday, said the rallies are starting to hurt the country's economy and image.
"If the demonstrations continue, I do believe it will have a very detrimental effect on the future of the Korean economy," Lee said.
Continuing rallies would also have a negative impact on overseas investors and foreign governments.
"They will have difficulty trying to understand why this is persisting," he said.
The protests have sparked a huge deployment of riot police, baffling or alarming foreign visitors. They have also caused major disruption in the heart of Seoul and hit city centre businesses hard.
Ahn Byong-Man, a presidential adviser for state planning, was named minister of education, science and technology to replace Kim Doh-Yeon.
Jang Tae-Pyoung, former chief of a state anti-corruption panel, was designated minister of food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries in place of Chung Woon-Chan.
Jeon Jae-Hee, a female lawmaker of the ruling Grand National Party, was named minister of health, welfare and family affairs to take over from Kim Soung-Yee.
Political science professor Park Myong-Ho of Seoul's Dongguk University said it was unclear whether the reshuffle would work.
"The cabinet reshuffle was the last major card that the president can play to effectively put out the candles on the streets," he told AFP.
"The timing was the key, but it is somewhat late."
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