By Jon Herskovitz
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea police said about 35,000people gathered in the capital on Saturday for renewed protestsagainst the polices of the new president, especially his U.S.beef import deal.
Weeks of street rallies, which have often turned violent,have shaken the government of newly elected President LeeMyung-bak.
While polls show most South Koreans oppose a deal Leestruck in April to open the market to U.S. beef, abouttwo-thirds of respondents say it is also time to halt therallies that have led to the country's most violent streetclashes.
Protest organisers, which include civic groups, religiousleaders and a labour group said they expected hundreds ofthousands to attend.
There were no major incidents of violence in the first fewhours of the rally.
The protests began in early May by people worried aboutpossible mad cow disease in U.S. beef but later grew into aforum where a wide variety of people gathered to air grievancesagainst Lee, who won a December election by a landslide.
Lee has seen his support rate plummet and analysts said hecannot implement reforms such as privatising state-run firmsand revamping pension systems unless he wins back the public.
Rallies last weekend left hundreds of protesters andconscripted riot policemen injured, prompting religious leadersto join the rallies in the hopes of calming things down.
South Korean and U.S. trade envoys reworked the beef dealin June with a private-sector agreement that limits trade inbeef to cattle under 30 months of age, thought to pose a lowrisk for mad cow disease, and prohibits shipments of risky bodyparts.
U.S. and South Korean leaders have said there is noscientific evidence that shows the U.S. beef headed to SouthKorea poses a risk for the brain-wasting disease.
U.S. beef returned this week to store shelves in SouthKorea, once the third-largest overseas market for the productwith annual sales of about $850 million before Seoul bannedsales in 2003 due to an outbreak of mad cow disease in theUnited States.
Major retailers refused to sell the product out of fear ofantagonising angry Koreans, but a few independent butchers whooffered U.S. beef quickly sold out of stocks with patronslining up to buy a product that sells for at least half theprice of Korean beef.
(Additional reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by JeremyLaurence and Matthew Jones)