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U.S. expects cooperation with South Korea over beef plan |
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08:49, June 04, 2008 |
The United States voiced on Tuesday its concern over a suggestion by South Korea to ban imports of U.S. beef from cattle more than 30 months old.
"We're in communication with the Korean government to try to understand their plan. We'll continue to work with U.S. industry and our Korean counterparts to ensure that our concerns are addressed," White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters.
Also on Tuesday, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said that while the United States respect the decision by Seoul as South Korea has "issues within their system that they need to work through," it remains looking forward to restarting exports to South Korea "without restrictions."
Casey said that the United States will continue its cooperation with South Korea to implement an agreement reached by U.S. President George W. Bush and his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak in April to resume beef imports halted because of South Korea's fear of mad cow disease.
Following large-scale protests against import of U.S. beef, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak suggested earlier in the day that his country will postpone restart of imports of U.S. beef.
Seoul lifted its intermittent ban on American beef imports last week as it struggles to ratify a sweeping free trade agreement with Washington.
Source:Xinhua
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