No cows

Recent weeks have seen tens of thousands of people take to streets in Seoul, the capital of South Korea. They carried banners that said "Mad cows drive our people mad". These people were against the government’s decision to buy US beef. They have fears of beef with "mad cow disease". Several countries stopped buying US beef after a case of mad cow disease in 2003. But when South Korean new President Lee Myung-bak took office in February, he wanted to warm up ties with the US. So in April his government agreed to continue trade and this move led to a flood of anger around the country. Although both the South Korean and US governments said US beef is safe to eat, the anger has grown into the country’s biggest protest (??) in 20 years. People accused President Lee of being out of touch with common people. They also voiced opposition to his other policies, such as education plans. "What Lee did is just like offering tribute to a Chinese emperor in the past. It''s quite humiliating," said Kim Sook-yi. The 35-year-old woman joined the protest with her two children. At center of the wave of anger, some South Korean top officials offered to step down. The president also said sorry to his people last Thursday. He suggested that there could be progress in the coming trade talks with the US.