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C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 001153 

SIPDIS 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2018

TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KS KN

SUBJECT: PROTESTS CONTINUE AS BLUE HOUSE STRUGGLES TO FIND

SOLUTION 
REF: SEOUL 01145 
Classified By: POL Joseph Y. Yun.  Reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
¶1.  (C) Summary: Throughout the June 6-8 holiday weekend,

protesters continued to call for a renegotiation of the

agreement to reopen the Korean market to U.S. beef, a ban on

imports of beef from cattle over 30-months-old, and President

Lee Myung-bak’s removal from office.  The protests, which

occasionally turned violent, seemed to avoid the

anti-American overtones that were percolating just last week.

 That said, police had to use force to prevent aggressive

crowds from marching on to the Blue House.  Some — notably

former President Roh Moo-hyun — have started to speak out

against the protests, which show no signs of abating in the

near future (police contacts note 9,000 are expected June 9

and several hundred thousand on June 10).  The Blue House is

preparing to replace a number of cabinet ministers and senior

secretaries in an attempt to placate the public.  Meanwhile,

former Lee Myung-bak confidant Chung Doo-un publicly accused

Blue House insiders of intentionally keeping the president in

the dark on the beef issue.  End Summary. 
——————————————— —

Protests: Carnival by Day, Mean Streets by Night

——————————————— — 
¶2.  (SBU) In the evening on June 5, protesters, taking

advantage of the holiday on Friday, began a 72-hour protest

calling for a renegotiation of the U.S.-ROK agreement that

lifts the ban on imports of U.S. beef.  The protests were

approximately the same size as previous protests — police

estimate around 40,000.  By day, the demonstrations took on

the air of a festival: families attended, music groups

performed, and the women selling dried squid snacks made out

like bandits.  When the families went home, however, the

violence started.  About 8,800 protesters and thousands of

police confronted each other at the Gwanghwamun intersection,

which lies between the City Hall rallying point and the U.S.

Embassy (and is also the main route to the Blue House).

Protesters sprayed fire extinguishers and threw debris at

police who responded with water canons.  About 10 people

suffered facial and head injuries in the clashes and 11

people were arrested for violence. 
¶3.  (SBU) Criticisms of the protesters has increased in the

wake of the weekend’s violent outbursts.  Newspaper

editorials have urged protesters to refrain from violent

acts.  The ROKG, of course, asked that the people “express

their wishes in a legal and mature manner.”  Most notably,

former President Roh Moo-hyun has spoken out against the

protests.  Roh cautioned that even if the beef deal was

wrong, it was unconstitutional and undemocratic to demand

President Lee Myung-bak’s removal from office, which has

become a rallying cry.  There have also been small, isolated

“anti-candlelight” protests.  What started out as one man in

front of the Seoul Finance Center swelled to 10 protesters

calling for an end to the vigils.  These “anti-candlelight”

protesters were not well-received by their compatriots.

Despite these efforts, protests are scheduled to continue

this week and will probably be particularly well attended on

June 10 and June 13 (reftel). 
—————–

Impending Shuffle

—————– 
¶4.  (SBU) The Blue House is poised to reshuffle the cabinet

and replace some senior secretaries in an attempt to appease

the angry populace.  Pundits expect Prime Minister Han

Seung-soo and all of the cabinet ministers to tender their

resignations as well to take responsibility for beef

agreement.  Press reports site Blue House sources who say

that President Lee is expected to selectively accept the

offers and replace half a dozen ministers involved in the

beef deal, possibly including Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan,

Agricultural Minister Chung Woon-chun, and Finance Minister

Kang Man-soo. 
¶5.  (SBU) On Friday, senior secretaries to President Lee,

including Chief of Staff Yu Woo-ik and Spokesman Lee

Dong-kwan, offered to resign en masse, holding themselves 
responsible for the escalating dispute over the beef deal.

Lee is expected to replace Yu and several senior secretaries,

including Kim Byong-kook, senior presidential secretary in

charge of foreign policy. 
———————————

You Bite My Back, I’ll Bite Yours

——————————— 
¶6.  (SBU) On June 7 former Lee Myung-bak confidant Chung

Doo-un told the Chosun Newspaper that President Lee Myung-bak

has been kept in the dark by his aides, which is why he has

had such a weak grasp of the public backlash over the beef

deal.  Chung accused three presidential aides and one

lawmaker of deceiving the president and abusing their

authority.  The most powerful of the four, Chung alleged, was

Park Young-joon, the president’s planning and coordination

secretary.  Park called Chung’s claims “groundless” and

accused him of “character assassination.”  Press reports

speculate that the unnamed lawmaker Chung referred to was Lee

Sang-deuk, Lee Myung-bak’s older brother. 
¶7.  (C) Chung’s allegations come at a politically sensitive

time; President Lee’s approval ratings are at 17 percent.  On

June 8, senior lawmaker Kim Moo-sung told poloff that Chung

made the statement because he is bitter.  He was a close Lee

advisor throughout the campaign and feels that he has been

sidelined by the very people he is now accusing.  The Blue

House is furious because it makes the staff look bad and Lee

Myung-bak look incompetent.  Kim also told poloff that he had

advised Park Geun-hye not to take the Prime Minister position

if offered again because she has nothing to gain.  (NOTE:

Some speculate that Lee will accept Han Seung-soo’s

resignation and ask Park Geun-hye to take his place. END

NOTE)  Kim said he had previously advised her to stay quiet

on the beef issue — she disregarded this advice when she

demanded renegotiation a few weeks ago.  Since then, however,

she has been silent on the matter. 
——-

COMMENT

——- 
¶8.  (C) When Lee Myung-bak’s only public defender is former

President and political pariah Roh Moo-hyun, one has to

wonder if Lee can slip any lower.  Time will tell.  For now,

a house cleaning might help defuse the beef controversy, but

questions about Lee’s leadership remain.  He may still be

able to make progress on policy issues, especially with the

help of a conservative-dominated assembly; even Roh Moo-hyun

at the height of his unpopularity managed to push through

some important initiatives.  The strength of the executive

branch and the conservative leaning of a majority of Koreans

should allow Lee, in time, to recover some of his lost

popularity.  For now, Lee Myung-bak is a crippled president.

VERSHBOW