S Korea leader vows fresh start after resignation offers

Seoul: South Korea's president said on Wednesday his government intends to make a fresh start after his entire Cabinet offered to resign in response to weeks of rallies against the planned resumption of US beef imports.

His remarks came hours after about 80,000 people demonstrated into early Wednesday morning in Seoul in the largest demonstration yet against the beef deal, part of nationwide protests tied to the anniversary of pro-democracy protests in 1987.

"I thought about a lot of things while watching protests last night," Lee told leaders of small companies on Wednesday morning, according to South Korean media reports. "The government intends to make a start with a new determination."

Lee also said he was concerned the Cabinet resignations might cause "a vacuum in state affairs" amid rising oil prices and other economic difficulties.

Lee has not yet said whether he will accept the resignations, but he was expected to reshuffle a few ministers, which would not affect his ability to serve out his single, five-year term.

South Korean media have reported Lee was considering naming his popular chief rival in the ruling party as prime minister to win back public confidence. Aides to Park Geunhye, daughter of late President Park Chung-hee, said they would persuade her to take the post if Lee officially proposes it, according to reports.

The Cabinet's offer to resign Tuesday was an attempt to defuse the beef crisis that has sparked weeks of protests and paralysed Lee's government less than four months after the former Hyundai CEO took office following a landslide election win.

What started as a trickle of small protests against a beef deal with the US has swelled into a torrent of anti-government street rallies, invoking the memory of pro-democracy movements in the 1980s that brought down the then-military dictatorship.