[Kennyshin]

Opposite to Roh Mu-Hyun, Lee MB is pro-American. One of the first things he did right after he became president was to reopen...

http://edition.cnn.c...beef/index.html

South Korea banned imports of U.S. beef in 2003 amid concerns over a case of mad cow disease in the United States. The ban closed what was then the third-largest market for U.S. beef exporters.

It resumed limited imports last year -- allowing boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age -- but that re-opening was subject to interruptions and closed altogether in October 2007.

A deal that South Korea and the United States struck last month bans the import of high-risk materials, like tonsils, brains, spinal cord marrow and a section of the small intestine, Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-chun said Thursday, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. These parts pose the greatest risk of transmitting mad cow disease to humans.

[Future Shock]

Face it, South Korea is just SCREWED right now...as they have no good short-term strategy that satisfies everyone.

Historically, North and South Korea should be united - they were one nation once.

Politically, the North hews to a discredited and obsolete political dictatorship that worships a communist "god". Not that they want to en masse, but they do as a result of government controls on their media and education.

In the medium to long term, this is not a problem..."gods" die. And historically the South is the much more mature and economically sound partner, just like West and East Germany.

Everything else in the meantime is just political theatre...