Anger as Seoul reworks US beef deal

Seoul: South Korea, which reworked an unpopular US beef import deal that sparked mass street protests, could soon resume imports once a legal step has been completed, the trade minister said on Saturday.

South Korea and the US reached a private-sector deal in Washington this week to limit US beef exports to cattle under 30 months old, which are thought to pose less risk of mad cow disease to consumers, Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon told reporters.

Kim said the publication of the notice that would start the legal process to resume quarantine inspections was expected "some time next week."

Once the legal notice is published, US beef that has been in frozen storage in South Korea for months could be inspected and then head to store shelves.

South Korea and the United States first reached a deal in April that would allow in all cuts of US beef regardless of age. But this quickly led to a crisis for the government of new President Lee Myung-bak, who sent Kim to Washington this week to add safeguards to the original agreement.

The April beef deal was meant to help a separate bilateral free-trade accord that US congressional leaders threatened to block unless South Korea opened up its market to beef imports.

But widespread concern over mad-cow disease in US beef quickly turned the issue into a lightning rod for a broad range of grievances that sparked protests against Lee's government, increasingly seen as out of touch with the public.

Lee apologised on Thursday for the April beef deal and said he will sack top aides but analysts said that might not be enough to reverse a slide in his public support.

About 10,000 people were expected to hold a protest in central Seoul later yesterday, police said.