Here's the beef

[photo: Beef is yummy. Alternate Simpsonian caption: More testicles mean more iron!]

Is this a sign that the Roh administration is trying to make nice with the Bush administration ahead of the FTA talks?

Korea's Ministry of Agriculture said today that Korea will stick to a plan to resume U.S. beef imports after the government confirmed that the latest U.S. case of mad cow disease was in an animal born before safeguards were put into place.

Safeguards against mad cow disease, such as a ban on using cattle parts in cattle feed, began in April 1998. Scientists say the disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), can be spread through infected cattle feed.

The ministry said that a South Korean team of experts verified the infected U.S. cow was at least eight years old after traveling to the United States to inspect its carcass.

The ministry said it will send final inspection teams soon to review U.S. slaughterhouses and beef packers, a precondition for the resumption of imports. That process will take a couple of weeks, meaning there is no firm date for when shipments would start, but officials said it would not be possible to resume them in May.