U.S. Agrees To Restrict Beef to S. Korea

(AP)  All U.S. beef imported into South Korea will come from cattle less than 30 months old, officials said Saturday, in a deal made to placate South Korean protesters worried about mad cow disease.

However, thousands of protesters returned to the streets of Seoul on Saturday night, calling for a complete renegotiation of an April agreement to resume imports of American beef.

Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon announced Saturday on his return from talks in Washington that a screening system would be established to ensure that only beef from U.S. cattle less than 30 months old - considered at less risk of mad cow disease - will be exported to South Korea.

Kim also said South Korea will have the right to inspect U.S. slaughterhouses and will not import parts of cattle such as brains, eyes, skulls and spinal cords that can carry mad cow disease.

In Washington, Trade Representative Susan Schwab also said the U.S. government will set up a voluntary system to verify that only U.S. beef from cattle under 30 months of age will be shipped to South Korea as a transitional measure.

"We look forward to safe, affordable, high-quality American beef - the same beef enjoyed by hundreds of millions of U.S. consumers and people in countries around the world - soon arriving on Korean tables," Schwab said in a statement.

The deal was made in a bid to halt daily demonstrations in South Korea over the past month that have brought tens of thousands of protesters to the streets and threatened the stability of pro-U.S. President Lee Myung-bak's government.

Consumers have been concerned that the April agreement for South Korea to resume U.S. beef imports did not impose any age restrictions on cattle and accused the government of not protecting citizens' health. South Korea was the third-largest overseas market for U.S. beef until it banned imports after a case of mad cow disease was detected in 2003, the first of three confirmed cases in the United States.

Despite Saturday's announcement, the coalition of civic groups that organized the protests vowed to continue rallies against the U.S. beef deal.

"We made it clear that a complete renegotiation is the only alternative that can fundamentally solve the people's concerns about mad cow disease," it said in a statement.

Saturday's protesters, estimated by police at about 6,000, held signs saying "Agreement Invalid" and "Lee Myung-bak Out" as they marched through central Seoul. No clashes were immediately reported, according to police.

One candlelit rally last week attracted 80,000 people, and some of the gatherings in recent weeks have turned violent.

Lee replaced his new chief of staff and seven other senior presidential secretaries Friday in a bid to soothe public outrage over the beef imports. The entire Cabinet also has offered to resign over the beef issue, but the president has not yet said which ministers will leave the government.

Lee took office in February after a landslide election win on promises he would strengthen ties with the U.S. and reinvigorate the slowing economy. But the beef issue has caused his popularity to plummet.

Eating meat products contaminated with mad cow disease is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal human malady.

[dobbershome]

We need to restrict all our troops from going to that smelly $hit hole.

[msay3]

since when is "Oh no" banned????

[msay3]

"Kim also said South Korea will have the right to inspect U.S. slaughterhouses and will not import parts of cattle such as brains, eyes, skulls and spinal cords that can carry mad cow disease.''
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh ***!! Now they''ll never know what a good hot dog tastes like!!!

[msay3]

"stupit" luvcbs3

[edintex]

The U.S. should also look at "renegotiating" some agreements...STARTING WITH THE AGREEMENT THAT PROTECTS THE SOUTH KOREANS FROM COMMUNIST NORTH. You know, the same agreement that makes it possible for these people to demonstrate their hate for the U.S.!!!
Hey...I wonder if the North Korean people would like some of that TERRIBLE beef destined for the South? Who knows...with all of that new found protein in their bodies giving them so much new energy, they may will decide a long march into the South would be "fun".

[lewiston14]

Tell me again why South Korea is so important to demand all this special treatment why we got involved when the north was invading the south with China backing them up and for that matter Vietnam. As far as I can see neither holds any value. The north has demonstrated the ability to hit any point in the south by launching a rocket over Japan. Vietnam is strangely quiet. Doesn%u2019t the Decider have a huge interest in the cattle industry as well as oil.

[brianbwb-2009]

"In Washington, Trade Representative Susan Schwab also said the U.S. government will set up a voluntary system to verify that only U.S. beef from cattle under 30 months of age will be shipped to South Korea as a transitional measure."

The key word in that statement is "voluntary", we all know how corrupt meat exporters will "voluntarily" exclude tainted meat. They don''t even do that for American schoolchildren, anyone believe they will do it for Koreans?

[sociald63]

i get great massages from this hot-looking korean chic :)

[extremophil]

Let em eat rice.

[oneworldusa]

Ok, so don''t buy goods made in Korea...We don''t want their substandard stuff anyways. If they can demand ''quality'' then we can too.