Lee: US accepts Seoul's decision on beef

Lee Myung-bak told a Cabinet meeting that Washington "accepted and acknowledged" his government's latest position on U.S. beef imports, which are set to resume later this month, according to South Korean media pool reports.

Under a beef trade deal the two sides struck last month, South Korea had agreed not to immediately stop imports even if a new case of mad cow disease was discovered in the United States. Instead, Seoul said it would only halt imports if the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health downgraded its safety rating for American cattle.

However, fears of mad cow disease have recently intensified among many South Koreans, with thousands of people staging candlelight vigils calling on the government to scrap the beef trade deal.

Lee's government now says that South Korea will suspend imports of U.S. beef if it endangers public health, but has rejected mounting calls to re-negotiate the accord, saying American beef is safe to eat.

Lee's government has said if public health were at risk, broader international trade treaties would override the beef deal with Washington, allowing it to cut off imports.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab agreed Monday that at least one multilateral treaty "preserves Korea's right to take measures necessary to protect public health."

The USTR's press office in Washington could not immediately be reached for comment Monday night.

Last month's deal to reopen South Korea's market came just hours before President Lee held his first summit with U.S. President George W. Bush. The pact was widely seen as a concession aimed at getting the U.S. Congress to approve a broader trade deal.

Seoul suspended imports of U.S. beef after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease appeared in December 2003 in a Canadian-born cow in Washington state. It resumed limited imports in April last year, but put them on hold again in October when a shipment arrived containing banned animal parts.