SEOUL - By apologizing for mishandling the beef import issue with the United States, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak has averted a major political crisis that threatened to undermine the stability of his young administration. In a nationally televised speech on Thursday, he promised to ban imports of American beef from cattle older than 30 months of age, accepting the argument that younger cattle are less prone to mad cow disease, and therefore safer for Korean consumers.

But whether this new import rule, subject to agreement with the U.S., will end many weeks of street protests in Seoul remains doubtful. Underlying the recent political unrest are a variety of factors, including Lee’s controversial leadership style. The concern over mad cow disease may certainly be genuine, but as demonstrators freely concede, it has also been useful as a cover for expressing other discontents.

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