Tensions reignited Thursday in South Korea after the government lifted an eight-month-old ban on US beef imports, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported

Opponents argue that the resumption of beef imports, as agreed in an April 18 deal between South Korea and the US, allows meat most likely to carry mad cow disease – a brain-wasting malady that can also affect humans – and call on the government to scrapit and seek a better one.

An anti-US beef rally in Seoul. South Korean police used water cannon and detained more than 130 people early Thursday when a protest against US beef imports turned violent.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

Weeks of protests, which culminated in a June 10 candlelight rally that drew 80,000 people in the capital alone, prompted Seoul to dispatch its trade minister to Washington and win a promise that the US would set up a system aimed at verifying exports of meat from cattle less than 30 months of age.

On Thursday, they threatened that they would continue their protests and even begin a full-fledged campaign demanding President Lee Myung-bak step down.

"We have come to a point where we can no longer stay away from raising the issue of forcing the administration out," said Park Won-seok, an official at a coalition of civic groups against the April deal.

"It appears we'll now have to start a nationwide movement to challenge the government itself," he said, saying the coalition plans massive candlelight protests over the weekend to call for the withdrawal of the decision to resume US beef imports and Lee's resignation.

Since a hastily organized rally in downtown Seoul on Wednesday afternoon, over 130 protesters have been detained by authorities after scuffles with riot police using water cannons and fire extinguishers, according to police.

About 3,000 people tried overnight to march on the presidential complex, throwing rocks and sand bags at riot squads and using ropes to pull police buses forming a blockade. A 53-year-old reportedly lost the tip of his finger when a riot police officer bit him during scuffles that ended when protesters retreated early Thursday to a nearby city plaza.

Unionized workers also gathered at 12 refrigerating facilities around Seoul and in the southeastern port city of Busan, vowing to block the distribution of 5,300 tons of US beef stored there following last year's suspension of imports.

The efforts were in line with the announcement by a militant umbrella labor union that it has begun a nationwide strike over the restart of US beef imports, but no actual walkouts have been reported.

About 20 officials of the minor Democratic Labor Party attempted to enter the presidential residence to protest the detainment of one of their lawmakers at a rally a day earlier and the resumption of US beef imports, but they were stopped by guards.

"The government has trampled on our hopes," said Cheon Young-se, one of the party's five lawmakers, accusing the government of threatening public health for the sake of its alliance with Washington.

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2008)