<img title="Image: http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=art.protests.gi_560549899.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" src="http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=art.protests.gi_560549899.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" alt="Hundreds in Seoul protest US beef">
										
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								<span>Riot police beat and arrested several protesters early Monday
 during an illegal rally by hundreds of opponents of a beef import 
agreement with the United States that has raised fears of mad cow 
disease in South Korea.<br><br>Several protesters were taken to nearby 
hospitals for treatment. A policeman "shoved me and slammed his shield 
into my right side, and the pain is killing me," Cho Ik-bi, a 
36-year-old businessman, told The Associated Press as he was taken to an
 ambulance.<br><br>Police detained 31 people for questioning, a police 
officer at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said. He spoke on 
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to 
reporters and declined to comment on the police violence.<br><br>Thousands
 of South Koreans have held candlelight vigils and other protests 
against the April 18 deal to resume U.S. beef imports. They say the 
government of President Lee Myung-bak made too many concessions in the 
accord and that it does not include strict enough quarantine 
restrictions to protect against mad cow disease.<br><br>The protest movement is among the biggest domestic challenges faced by Lee in his first months in office.<br><br>On Sunday, police detained 37 other protesters at a separate rally urging the government to scrap the import deal.<br><br>Lee
 last week sought to reassure the country on the safety of U.S. beef but
 failed to ease public anger, fanned in part by media reports 
questioning the safety of the meat.<br><br>Lee has been criticized for 
making too many concessions on the beef issue to get the U.S. Congress 
to approve a free trade agreement. South Korea and the U.S. agreed to 
the landmark accord last year to slash tariffs and other trade barriers,
 but the deal must be endorsed by legislatures in both capitals before 
it takes effect.<br><br>Prime Minister Han Seung-soo called on South Korea's legislature Monday to ratify the deal before its term ends this week.<br><br>Some
 700 protesters marched through the capital until the early hours of the
 morning. Some of them called for Lee's impeachment, saying he was 
sacrificing public safety for political gain.<br><br>The April 18 
agreement scrapped nearly all the quarantine restrictions imposed by the
 previous government to guard against mad cow disease.<br><br>The South 
Korean government was preparing to make an announcement on revised 
quarantine restrictions and the safety of American beef imports as early
 as Tuesday, clearing the way to put it back on Korean store shelves.<br><br>A
 government delegation was to return home later Monday after conducting 
on-site inspections of beef industry facilities in the U.S., said Kim 
Hyun-soo, an Agriculture Ministry spokesman. He did not give further 
details.<br><br>South Korea suspended U.S. beef imports after the first 
American case of mad cow disease appeared in December 2003 in a 
Canadian-born cow in Washington state.<br><br>Restricted imports of U.S.
 beef reached South Korean supermarkets last year, but further shipments
 were canceled in October after banned parts, such as bones, were found.<br><br>Scientists
 believe mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, spreads 
when farmers feed cattle with recycled meat and bones from infected 
animals. In humans, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal malady, 
is linked to eating meat products contaminated with the cattle disease. <br></span>
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