U.S., South Korea switch course, restart beef talks

By Missy Ryan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and South Korean negotiators resumed talks on Monday on a deal to resume U.S. beef exports, which has triggered furor among South Koreans, just hours after officials announced discussions had ended without a resolution.

"Officials talked today and both countries spent the day internally reviewing technical issues," Gretchen Hamel, a spokeswoman for U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said

"Technical meetings will take place tomorrow morning and ministers will meet tomorrow afternoon," Hamel said.

South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon returned to Washington on Monday for meetings scheduled just hours after officials announced the weekend discussions had ended without a resolution.

Hamel said late on Sunday that Kim was going home.

The South Korean official arrived in the U.S. capital on Friday for talks to defuse some of the anger in South Korea over the agreement President Lee Myung-bak struck two months ago to reopen the South Korean market, which was clamped shut after mad cow disease turned up in the United States in 2003.

The agreement unleashed massive protests in South Korea, becoming a rallying point for people unhappy with Lee's government only a few months after he took office.

U.S. officials did not go into detail about the resumption of the discussions, which was announced a mere 12 hours after they said Kim was headed back to Seoul to give both sides more time to consider a solution.

U.S. REQUEST

S.J. Yoon, minister for public affairs at the South Korean embassy in Washington, said the talks were picked up again at the request of the United States.

He expected them to continue at least into Tuesday.

While the April deal would have allowed U.S. exporters to ship any beef product, from animals of any age, to the lucrative Asian market, Seoul is now looking for assurances no beef from animals older than 30 months will be sent.

The challenge for negotiators may lie in Seoul's desire to amend the agreement while avoiding the perception of a renegotiation, which could impair its reputation in trade talks and make it even less likely the U.S. Congress will approve a bilateral trade deal signed last year with the United States.

Senior lawmakers have vowed for months that they will not approve the trade deal, the biggest for the United States in 15 years, until beef trade has resumed.

The brouhaha surrounding beef is one of the spate of challenges Lee now faces.