U.S. Pushes For “Full U.S. Beef Access to Korea”

The United States is strongly insisting that Korea open its beef market completely as U.S. beef was proven safe from the mad cow disease by the World Animal Health Organization (OIE).

“The OIE gave the United States ‘controlled mad cow risk country’ status. As the safety issue has been officially resolved, the U.S. will require the full opening of every kind of cow and beef to our trading partners such as South Korea and Japan,” said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns on May 22.

Presuming that the resumption of U.S. beef imports is a settled matter, he insisted that the two nations should advance their schedules to their earliest point. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced in a statement that America acknowledges President Roh’s public commitment to respect the OIE ruling, which he made on April 2 in the wake of the conclusion of the Korea-U.S. FTA.

In March, the United States already demanded Korea prepare in advance so that the U.S. could regain full access to Korean beef market as soon as possible without being delayed due to technical complications when the OIE report was issued on May 22.

Despite the OIE report, however, the South Korean government is taking a stance that the import of bone-in beef is an issue that needs careful consideration.

srkim@donga.com jarrett@donga.com