Social movement to protest resuming imports of U.S. beef sent new Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s approval ratings into a nosedive in mid 2008. This article believes that the Beef Issue was not only an issue for Korean to protect its domestic market of primary goods，but also reflected structural conflicts in Korean society，such as conflicts between the progressives and the conservatives，value difference between generations，losing confidence in representative democracy and rising interests on street politics and so on. It also showed the power of internet democracy movement. All these factors will affect the patterns of Korean social movement in the future. In the short term，because of the financial crisis，Koreans will temporarily lay aside these disputes and tide over the difficulties.