2010-11-18 15:13

SEOUL - South Korea and the United States are not currently engaged in talks over US beef imports through a separate channel other than their two-way free trade deal, an official in Seoul said Thursday.

Washington has urged Seoul to further open up the market and allow US beef produced from cattle older than 30 months old into the country - something South Korea has banned for fear of mad cow disease.

"The US side has continuously brought up the beef issue," South Korea's chief trade negotiator Choi Suk-young said in a press briefing.

"We have not acceded to the US request," he added, referring to a US proposal to discuss outstanding beef issues through a separate channel, a response to Seoul's refusal to link the issue to the trade pact.

Any decision on the beef issue can have enormous political implications with the public wary of mad cow disease. The government's move in 2008 to resume US beef imports touched off months of massive street protest.

Earlier this month, top trade officials from Seoul and Washington held a series of talks over reworking the free trade agreement that still awaits legislative approval in both countries due to differences on auto trade imbalances and American beef imports.

Not living up to expectations of the presidents of the two countries, who pledged to reach a compromise before their talks in Seoul last week, the talks failed to produce any major breakthrough on the remaining differences.

Still, trade negotiators are expected to continue on with talks over renegotiating parts of the pact, as pledged by the presidents.