South Korea to Resume U.S. Beef Imports

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea will open its market to most U.S. beef, a senior government official said Thursday, according to state media.

South Korea banned imports of U.S. beef in 2003 amid concerns over a case of mad cow disease in the United States. The ban closed what was then the third-largest market for U.S. beef exporters.

It resumed limited imports last year — allowing boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age — but that re-opening was subject to interruptions and closed altogether in October 2007.

A deal that South Korea and the United States struck last month bans the import of high-risk materials, like tonsils, brains, spinal cord marrow and a section of the small intestine, Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-chun said Thursday, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. These parts pose the greatest risk of transmitting mad cow disease to humans.

The ban will be lifted within a few days, once the government's new import rules have been published.

The pending resumption of U.S. beef imports hasn't been without political costs for President Lee Myung-bak. He apologized to the nation last week for failing to fully understand concerns about mad cow disease.

In downtown Seoul, thousands of people have regularly staged protests, chanting "We don't want crazy cows," since the deal to revive beef imports was announced.

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