Embattled President Lee Myung-bak replaced his top advisers Friday in a bid to soothe public outrage over plans to resume U.S. beef imports. Meanwhile, Seoul and Washington officials said they were near a resolution to the dispute.

Lee introduced a new chief of staff and seven other senior presidential secretaries. He is seeking to make a fresh start for his administration, which took office less than four months ago.

Lee's entire Cabinet has also offered to resign over the beef issue, but the president has not yet said which ministers will leave the government.

Lee, whose approval ratings have recently dipped below 20 percent, is struggling to quell furor over an April beef agreement that triggered weeks of anti-government demonstrations.

South Korea suspended imports of U.S. beef after the first case of mad cow disease appeared in the U.S. in 2003, closing what had been the third-largest foreign market for American producers. Limited imports resumed last year but were halted when bones, banned as at risk of spreading disease, were discovered in shipments.

Protests against the renegotiated agreement climaxed last week with a rally that drew some 80,000 people. But the protests have dwindled in size as the government began seeking to limit the import deal.

In Washington, trade chiefs from South Korea and the U.S. concluded talks on the beef issue Thursday and were close to an agreement, according to both governments.

But a coalition of civic groups that has organized the protests said Friday it would keep rallying against Lee, saying that only a complete renegotiation of the beef deal can resolve the turmoil, not a personnel change.

Both countries have said they will not renegotiate an April agreement reopening South Korea's market to American meat, but U.S. suppliers were expected to voluntarily pledge not to export beef from older cattle - believed to be at a higher risk for mad cow disease.

South Korea will announce details today.

Also today, Lee's critics planned a rally in Seoul.

About 120 South Korean meat importers said Friday they would only import U.S. beef from cattle less than 30 months old to enhance public confidence.