S Korea to resume U.S. beef imports on Thursday

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Source: CCTV.com | 06-25-2008 13:05

South Korea will resume US beef imports on Thursday under a deal that was reworked to calm concerns over mad cow disease. New quarantine rules will exclude meat from cattle older than 30 months.

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak, seen here at a  news conference in Seoul on June 20. South Korea will  resume US beef imports from Thursday after securing extra  health safeguards aimed at placating protesters, officials  said.(AFP/File/Kim Jae-Hwan)

South Korea and the US were forced to renegotiate the unpopular beef import deal reached in April. Beef from cattle less than 30 months old is thought to pose a lower risk for mad cow disease.

There was fierce opposition to the resumption of US beef imports. More than nine thousand protesters gathered in downtown Seoul last Saturday. Some of them smashed police buses blocking the way to the presidential Blue House.

President Lee Myung-bak urged people to give the new safety checks a chance. Once the legal notice for resumption is published on Thursday, US beef that has been in frozen storage in the country for months will be inspected and sent back to store shelves.

Editor:Du Xiaodan