(Adds presidential Blue House official, new ruling party chief)

By Jack Kim

SEOUL, July 3 (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday called for an end to street protests against his U.S. beef import deal, saying they no longer have public support and it was time to get to work on the economy.

Lee's government has warned that daily street rallies that have turned increasingly violent are scaring foreign investors away. A senior Moody's official said last week protests could hamper the long-term performance of Asia's fourth largest economy.

"The government will listen to the people's voice that comes through peaceful rallies," Lee told a convention of his Grand National Party (GNP), adding that the public would not accept illegal and violent rallies.

South Korea has seen street protests on nearly a nightly basis since early May. What began as candle-lit rallies voicing concerns about mad cow disease infection from U.S. beef soon became a lightning rod for criticism of Lee.

"It is now time to raise the torch for economic revival," Lee said.

Veteran lawmaker Park Hee-tae, a strong political ally of Lee, was picked as GNP leader at the convention, vowing to solidify the party behind the embattled president and push parliament out of opposition-led boycott so that it can begin working on Lee's long-delayed economic reform bills.

Protesters and opposition parties have demanded Lee scrap the deal to resume imports of U.S. beef. As far as the South Korean and U.S. governments are concerned, a senior government official said, "the beef issue has already been resolved".

South Korean and U.S. trade officials in late June reworked the beef deal to mollify a South Korean public that said the government was putting its health at risk by importing the meat.

The protests have declined in scale recently as more people stayed away, while members of left-leaning groups waged violent rallies and clashed with police, injuring scores on both sides.

The militant Korea Confederation of Trade Unions whose members on Wednesday walked off the job, briefly halting assembly lines at major carmakers, have called for a massive street rally on Saturday, planning to draw as many as a million people.

SUPPORT PLUMMETS

Lee, who came to office in a landslide election win in December, has seen his support plummet as the anti-U.S. beef protests mushroomed into broader criticism of his policies.

South Korea's benchmark stock index <.KS11>, which has been under pressure from weakening economic growth and fears of stagflation, fell 1.1 percent as foreign investors sold on the market for the 19th straight day, an outflow worth a combined 5.7 trillion won ($5.5 billion) for the period.

South Korea was the third-largest export market for U.S. beef until shipments were halted in 2003 after a mad cow disease outbreak in the United States.

U.S. beef, which sells for less than half the cost of Korean beef, returned to South Korean stores this week for the first time in nine months.

Major retailers have refused to sell it out of fear of a backlash, but one independent Seoul outlet on Tuesday sold out of its initial supply in hours.

Prime Minister Han Seung-soo was among the first set of customers to purchase from the outlet in Seoul.

Lee, who was on a high-profile campaign to encourage the consumption of poultry during the country's bird flu outbreak earlier in the year has yet to be a customer.

"Lee and his family should be seen having not only U.S. beef but also U.S. beef soup and oxtail soup," the largest circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper said in an editorial on Thursday. "They should eat it not just once but until the public is relieved."

The presidential Blue House will soon begin serving U.S. beef at its cafeteria, and Lee plans to help himself to some, an official said. (Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz, Editing by Alex Richardson) ($1=1037.5 Won)

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