U.S. Asks Korea to Lift Ban On U.S. Beef

The Ministry for Trade under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on March 27 that the U.S. has strongly demanded Korea to resume U.S. beef imports at the Korea and U.S. meeting for trade review held in Washington D.C. on March 24 and 25.

The U.S. requested the Korean government to lift its ban on U.S. beef imports by saying that since 2004, the safety of U.S. beef has been verified through various tests.

Regarding the matter, the Korean government announced that it would discuss whether or not to resume imports of U.S. beef by taking relevant steps, including holding an experts’ meeting.

Korea stopped importing American beef in the wake of the discovery of an outbreak of mad cow disease in North America in December 2003.

At the trade review meeting, Korea and the U.S. conferred about the general trade issues including intellectual property rights, communication, agricultural products, and the subsidiaries issues.

Eun-Woo Lee libra@donga.com