US and South Korean negotiators have extended high-level talks in Washington aimed at revising a beef imports deal, which has sparked mass protests in Seoul, the South Korean foreign ministry said yesterday.
The statement came hours after the ministry reported that negotiations had ended without agreement and that Seoul’s chief delegate was leaving for home a day early.
“At the request of the US for more ministerial-level talks, [South Korean] Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon delayed his trip home and decided to have consultations with USTR [US Trade Representative Susan] Schwab in Washington on June 16,” it said in its latest announcement.
Agreement is crucial for the government of pro-US President Lee Myung-bak, who has faced a month of protests by tens of thousands of people against his decision to resume US beef imports.
Kim is trying to secure extra safeguards against the perceived risk of mad cow disease. Although sealed in April, the beef import deal has not yet taken effect because of the strength of opposition.
His delegation had left Washington for New York late on Sunday for an onward flight home, the Yonhap news agency quoted the South Korean embassy in the US capital as saying, but returned to Washington for more talks yesterday.
Kim had met Schwab on Friday and Saturday to try to win official US backing for Seoul’s decision to exclude meat from older cows, seen as potentially more prone to infection.
This safeguard was not part of the original pact.
The foreign ministry initially said both sides needed more time “to verify technical details” about the proposed new regulation and talks would continue “through diplomatic channels.”
The beef issue has become a major problem for Lee’s administration, less than four months after he took office vowing to improve relations with Washington.
He is also grappling with strikes by freight haulier and construction drivers in protest at rising fuel prices.
On Sunday, Lee said the US government had shown a “positive” stance toward South Korea’s demand that US exporters voluntarily refrain from shipping beef from older cattle.
“The [Seoul] government’s stance is firm that beef from cattle older than 30 months won’t be imported in any cases,” he said.
Seoul insists it cannot meet demands to renegotiate the deal, saying it would jeopardize a separate wider free trade agreement and cast doubt on South Korea’s good faith as a negotiator.
However, it is seeking a voluntary agreement by exporters and importers to exclude older US cattle, backed up by some form of government guarantee.
Both governments see the disease risk as virtually nonexistent.
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