US assures safety of SK beef imports

By Kevin Cho  |   2008-6-23  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

SOUTH Korean President Lee Myung Bak's administration said it won an agreement with the US to assure the safety of beef imports, part of an effort to quell public concern that sparked a political crisis.

South Korea will import beef only from animals younger than 30 months, South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong Hoon said. The US government has agreed to verify the age of its exports, he said, and only beef from certified animals will be imported.

"We will reject any product that doesn't have the verification of the US agricultural ministry," Kim said in a television broadcast. "This program will be implemented until the confidence of Korean consumers has improved."

Lee, whose popularity has fallen by more than half since he took office, is trying to contain a backlash against his decision to resume imports because of concerns over the mad cow disease, Bloomberg News reported. Lee publicly apologized last week for his handling of an agreement to renew the imports and yesterday fired all but one of his top aides.

"The new conditions are still not enough and the only solution to this issue is a complete renegotiation," Park Seung Hup, a spokesman for the opposition Democratic Labor Party, said in a statement after the announcement. "There is no legal obligation attached to the new terms and the government is just ridiculing the people."

Lee agreed in April this year to open South Korea to all cuts and ages of American beef, potentially restoring the market to the third largest for American ranchers.