US, S.Korea to meet again on troubled beef deal

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States and South Korea were to hold more talks Wednesday to salvage a US beef import deal that has run aground after mass street protests erupted in Seoul, a US spokeswoman said.

South Korea halted imports of US beef in 2003 after the first confirmed case of mad cow disease in the United States, and the two countries hammered out a deal in April to resume all shipments ahead of a wider free-trade pact.

But a wave of protests has put new President Lee Myung-Bak, whose approval rating has plummeted quickly since he took office in February, under pressure to scrap the agreement.

South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-Hoon and his US counterpart Susan Schwab held "intense discussions" for a third day in the US capital on Tuesday and...