FTAs with 6 nations in Middle East on agenda [English: CSY]

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2914823

Summary: Korea wants to conclude free trade deals with a group of six oil-producing gulf states and Peru within the year, Seoul’s trade minister said yesterday.  Korea and the six nations have held three rounds of free trade negotiations so far. The six nations are the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.  “Both sides sought to conclude the deal last year... but we will be able to reach agreements on key issues within this year,” Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon told the Yonhap News Agency.

U.S. Experts See No Hope for FTA with Korea This Year [English: CSY]

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/01/05/2010010500642.html

Summary: Nine out of 10 U.S. experts on Korean affairs feel it is unlikely that the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement will be ratified by the U.S. Congress this year.  The Chosun Ilbo asked 10 American experts about the Korea-U.S. FTA in late December. Only Stephen Costello, the president of ProGlobal Consulting, a consultancy specializing in affairs related to the Korean Peninsula, saw the possibility of the bilateral FTA being ratified this year. And even he only spoke of a "growing possibility" that it could happen this summer.  Most said there is a low chance of the FTA being ratified due to midterm elections in the U.S. in November and the economic crisis.

Korea likely to establish its first FTA for 2010 with Peru [Korean: BYK]

http://www.asiatoday.co.kr/news/view.asp?seq=315055

Summary: According to Trade Minister Jay Kim, Korea will most likely establish its first FTA for this year with Peru as the progress made for this agreement is the most extensive.  

KORUS FTA in Limbo [English: BYK]

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=001&oid=044&aid=0000088244

Summary: Domestic political complications in both Korea and the United States are keeping the free trade agreement between the two countries from moving toward ratification. At the start of 2010, pessimism prevails in the capitals of both countries about having the KORUS FTA, signed in July 2006, ratified this year.  Korea has crucial local elections in June, which will serve as a mid-term appraisal of the Lee Myung-bak government currently pressured by the Sejong City project and the need for economic recovery. In the United States, the 435 members of the House and one-third of the Senate are already looking ahead to the November elections, calculating the impact of a sensitive FTA on votes.

New Approach Needed in Dealing with Korea-U.S. FTA [English: CSY]

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/01/06/2010010602713.html

American ambassador says U.S. working to enact KORUS FTA [English: CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/01/13/0502000000AEN

20100113003300315.HTML

Summary: The top U.S. diplomat in Seoul, Kathleen Stephens, on Wednesday said her country was working strenuously to enact a free trade agreement (FTA) signed over two years ago with South Korea, adding the U.S. administration believes the trade deal will bring great benefits to both economies. The U.S. ambassador, however, noted it may take some time before the deal can be put into action, saying, "It is also true there are still many issues" left to be resolved.  "The U.S. administration believes an agreement such as the Korea-U.S. FTA can be an economic boosting measure that will also help create jobs," Stephens said in fluent Korean at a breakfast meeting with the Korea Importers Association.

Seoul to actively pursue a string of FTAs [English: BYK]

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/01/14/

201001140059.asp

Summary: Korea will continue to take an aggressive approach in pursuing free trade agreements with as many strategic trading partners as possible in 2010, the country's chief FTA negotiator said yesterday.   “If last year saw a successful wrapping up of major trade pacts, such as those with the European Union and India, we expect this year to be even more exciting and active in our aims to further secure and expand FTAs with substantial partners," Lee Hye-min, the chief FTA negotiator, told reporters at the Trade Ministry yesterday.

Korea ' s trade volume derived from its FTAs with Chile, Singapore, EFTA, ASEAN and India are projected to make up 13.9 percent, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The addition of the FTA with the United States and the European Union is expected to raise the figure to 35.3 percent, and to 51.8 percent with the addition of Peru, Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, GCC, Turkey, Mexico and Canada.

The figure would stretch to 82.8 percent if Korea achieves FTAs with China, Japan, Russia and members of MERCOSUR, or the Southern Common Market, comprised of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil. Seoul is now holding feasibility tests for a trade accord with this latter list of economies.

In reply to the question about the beef protocol between Taiwan and the United States, Mr. Lee replied that the import protocol between the two nations has still not changed and we are monitoring it.

AmCham pushes for ratification of KORUS FTA [English: BYK]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/12/AR2010011203517.html

Summary: In his speech laying out the 2010 political strategy, he urged the Obama Administration to push ahead with the ratification of the KORUS FTA.  He pushed for the United States to conclude trade pacts with other countries, noting that European rivals are on their way to doing so. If the United States does not pass a pending trade agreement with South Korea, for instance, 350,000 U.S. workers could lose their jobs, he said.

Trade minister reiterates 'no renegotiation' of KORUS FTA [English: CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/01/15/68/0502000000AEN20100

115003600320F.HTML

Summary: South Korea's top trade official said Friday that the government will not respond if the United States repeats its demand to amend a bilateral free trade accord.  "Our stance is still firm. It is impossible to renegotiate (the accord)," South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon said in a radio interview.  Both sides signed the KORUS FTA in 2007, but the accord has yet to be put to a vote in either the U.S. or South Korea's legislature.

Korea-India CEPA to boost Korean small exporters [English: BYK]

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/01/22/201001220065.asp

Summary: A senior government official said yesterday that the Korea-India comprehensive economic partnership agreement offered an excellent opportunity for Korean small and medium-sized companies to boost exports.  "India has tremendous growth potential and this will serve as a good opportunity for Korean SME exporters to tap the Indian market," said Lee Sung-han, deputy minister for FTA Promotion & Policy Adjustment Authority of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.  "As CEPA took effect this month, Korean small exporters have a competitive edge regarding their prices," he said in an interview with The Korea Herald.

U.S. to work closely with Korea on FTA [Korean: BYK]

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/01/22/201001220065.asp

Summary: The Barack Obama administration will work closely with Korea for congressional approval of a pending free trade deal that could help revive the U.S. economy, struggling through the worst recession in decades, a senior U.S. official said Thursday, according to Yonhap News.

"Continued integration of the economies of this region will create new business opportunities, benefiting workers, consumers, and businesses and creating jobs back here in the United States," Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told a hearing of the Senate foreign relations subcommittee.

"Despite strong export growth to the Asia-Pacific, the United States' share of the total trade in the region has declined by three percent in the past five years," Campbell said. "To reverse this trend, we will continue to work with the Congress, stakeholders, and the Republic of Korea to work through the outstanding issues of concern so we can move forward on our bilateral free trade agreement."

None

 
3. Economic Issues

(Korean, OSY)

http://kr.news.yahoo.com/service/news/shellview.htm?articleid=2009123117162814609&linkid

=4&newssetid=1352

Summary: Korea National Statistics Office reported that consumer price rose 2.8 percent in 2009 over the previous year.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2915787

Summary: The Lunar New Year is traditionally a season for gluttony, but according to food price data released yesterday, three weeks before the holiday, people might be less able to afford the traditional feasts this year. The Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation, which is under the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, surveyed the prices of 19 foods served as sacrifices in the ancestral ritual that marks the New Year festival.

Five of the country’s well-known outdoor traditional markets and 26 large discount stores in eight cities were surveyed. The company said the survey showed that fruits, vegetables, fish and meats were 21 percent pricier than they were during the same period a year ago.

Rice continues to fall out of favor [English: CSY]

[NEWS IN FOCUS] The consumption of alternative food products in Korea, such as bread, is increasing.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2915943

Summary: The latest government data offer a window into the trend, showing that per-capita rice consumption last year fell again, continuing a descent that started in the 1980s.  The decline is deepening concerns among local rice producers and regional governments in rural neighborhoods that tie their livelihoods to the grain. According to data released yesterday by Statistics Korea, the official statistics agency formerly known as the National Statistical Office, Koreans’ per-capita rice consumption amounted to 74 kilograms (163 pounds) for 2009, down 1.8 kilograms from last year. Rice consumption has now declined for 25 straight years.

The average Korean once consumed more than 136 kilograms of rice a year in 1970, but the figure has steadily slumped over the years, falling below 130 kilograms consistently in the mid-1980s before sinking to under 100 kilograms in 1998. The pace of decline has been rather steep in recent years, with consumption tumbling from 99.2 kilograms in 1998 to 82 kilograms in 2004 and 75.8 kilograms in 2008. Add it all up, and per-capita rice consumption has dropped by more than 20 kilograms in the past 10 years.

Dong-A Won, a wheat flour miller, revealed to cut its flour price by 6-8 percent reflecting decline of imported wheat price and downtrend of Korean Foreign Exchange rate against US$.  Other flour millers are expected to follow. (Korean:  CSC)

http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2010011118551

S. Korean food company to export perilla seeds to Malaysia, Singapore [English: CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/01/12/0502000000AEN2010011

2004600320.HTML

Summary: A South Korean food company has signed a deal to export locally grown perilla seeds to Malaysia and Singapore, a state-run food exporter said Tuesday.  The Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp. said Dubio Co., located 40 kilometers south of Seoul in Hwaseong, signed a deal with Intermed, a Malaysian health food company, to export the plant seeds to the two Southeast Asian countries.

Major S. Korean flour maker lowers prices [English: CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/01/13/0503000000AEN2010011

3008600315.HTML

Summary: Daehan Flour Mill Co., one of South Korea's three major flour makers, implemented a price cut on Wednesday as the cost of raw materials fell due to the won's appreciation against the U.S. dollar, the company said.  Daehan lowered its flour prices by between 7 and 7.7 percent, with 1 kilogram packages of flour intended for home use selling for 970 won (US$0.86), while 20 kilogram packages of flour for business use are going for 15,300 won.

Korean Feed Grain Demand May Be Sustained This Year, Group Says [English: CSY]

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-18/korean-feed-grain-demand-may-be-

sustained-this-year-group-says.html

Summary: Demand for feed grain in South Korea, Asia’s biggest buyer after Japan, will be sustained this year after climbing on increased livestock production, said an executive at the top buying group.  Consumption of corn and wheat for animal feed in the country, which imports virtually all of its needs, increased 11 percent last year to 8 million metric tons as farmers boosted livestock output and meat imports dropped, said Kim Chi Young, director in charge of grain purchases at the Korea Feed Association, which buys about 70 percent of imports. An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease may be a “swing factor”, he said.

5. Livestock Issues

New Rearing Method to Cut Hanwoo Price by 5 Percent [English: CSY]

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2009/12/123_58246.html

Summary: Starting next year, the rearing period for ``hanwoo,'' Korea's native cattle, will be cut back by three months, a change that will roll back consumer prices by 5 percent.  Hanwoo will be raised for 27 months ― from the current 30 months ― before being slaughtered as part of new ways to help cut costs in managing the nation's agriculture and fisheries industries, Chang Tae-pyong, minister of food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, said in an annual policy report to President Lee Myung-bak, Wednesday.

Taiwan prohibits imports of six risky cuts from the United States [Korean: BYK]

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=101&oid=

001&aid=0003057748

Summary: Taiwan revised the import protocol that would essentially prohibit six cuts that it had earlier agreed to import from the United States.  Such revision was made to address the strong protest after it announced the initial agreement.  It is expected that this will cause trade disputes with the United States.

The Current Administration needs to renegotiate beef protocol as it had promised to do [Korean: BYK]

http://www.vop.co.kr/A00000277702.html#

Summary: After the Taiwanese legislation passed the law that would prohibit the import of certain cuts of U.S. beef, there are voices in Korea that is calling for renegotiation with the United States.  The opposition parties are demanding the government to keep its promise that it had made in 2008 where it said that if the import protocol for U.S. beef with other nations is stricter than the one with Korea, it would ask the United States to revise the protocol.  Based on this, the spokesperson for the Democratic Party stated in its briefing at the National Assembly that Korea needs to ask the United States to revise the import protocol.  Kang Gi Gap of the Democratic Labor Party stated in his press release that the Korean government needs to immediately begin to renegotiate with the United States.  He also stated that regardless of the renegotiations, he would propose a revision to the Act on Prevention of Epidemic Livestock Diseases, so that tonsils, distal ileum, skull, brain, eyes, spinal cord, ground beef and intestine from all ages will be designated as an import prohibited item, just like Taiwan.  According to the information on the USDA website, only four other nations (Lebanon, Malaysia, Peru, and Columbia) other than Korea allow beef from over 30 months. 

Meat & Livestock Australia to provide cash to its customers [Korean: BYK]

http://www.mdtoday.co.kr/mdtoday/index.html?no=112444

Summary: Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) plans to provide cash to selected customers.  Five teams among people that visit the MLA website and indicate why their company colleagues need to dine out will be chosen and will be provided with 200,000 won per team.

Taiwan tries to renegotiate its beef agreement with the United States [Korean: BYK]

http://mbn.mk.co.kr/news/newsRead.php?vodCode=479468&category=mbn00008

Summary: The Prime Minister of Taiwan stated that they were trying to initiate a renegotiation with the United States on its beef import protocol as their legislative arm had passed a legislation that prohibits the import of risky cuts.

Cows at farm contract foot-and-mouth disease [English: CSY]

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2915019

Summary: Korea has confirmed an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease at a dairy farm north of Seoul, the first such outbreak in eight years, officials said yesterday. Six out of some 185 milk cows at the farm in Pocheon, 46 kilometers (29 miles) north of Seoul in Gyeonggi, have tested positive for the disease, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.

President urges all necessary measures to prevent spread of FMD [English: CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/01/07/26/0501000000AEN20100107010

200320F.HTML

Summary: President Lee Myung-bak has ordered the government to take all necessary measures to prevent the spread of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the country, his aides said Thursday.  South Korea confirmed earlier in the day that it detected the first outbreak of FMD in eight years at a dairy farm north of Seoul. The farm ministry said it has banned the movement of animals, started wide-scale decontamination measures and started to cull and bury all animals near the dairy farm.

Quarantine workers complete livestock cull [English: CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/01/08/59/0501000000AEN2010010800

4300320F.HTML

Summary: Quarantine workers have culled and buried 309 heads of livestock following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the country this week, the government said Friday.  The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said it buried all 185 milk cows at a dairy farm in Pocheon, 46 kilometers north of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province.  Of the animals in the farm six were confirmed on Thursday to have caught the virus that has a fatality rate of over 50 percent.

Officials move to contain hoof-and-mouth disease [English: CSY]

More than 450 farms and 160,000 animals considered at risk in Gyeonggi

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2915089

Summary: POCHEON, Gyeonggi Province - A day after confirming an outbreak of livestock hoof-and-mouth disease at a dairy farm in Gyeonggi Province, Korea’s health and agriculture authorities scrambled to contain its spread.  They culled and buried some 300 animals yesterday morning, including milk cows and goats within a 500-meter radius from the epicenter. The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Thursday that it would cull a total of 2,000 animals, including 346 cows and 1,500 pigs. As of yesterday evening, no additional reports of the disease had been made. However, the ministry said incubation periods stretch from two to eight days. It has dispatched 3,000 veterinarians to farms across the country to track the disease.

Pork exports to Japan suspended [Korean: BYK]

http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/01/11/2010011100131.html

Summary: Pork exports from Jeju has been suspended after 3 months of exports.  This is due to the outbreak of FMD.

Live cattle market in Heungsung closes operation due to FMD [Korean: BYK]

http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/01/11/2010011100131.html

Summary: The live cattle market located in Heungsung has voluntarily suspended its operation in order to prevent the spreading of FMD.

U.S. delays decision on status of foot-and-mouth disease in S. Korea [English: CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/01/12/2/0502000000AEN2010011200

5400320F.HTML

Full text: United States has indefinitely delayed its decision over whether to add South Korea to a list of countries considered free of foot-and-mouth disease after a new outbreak was reported north of Seoul, a trade body said Tuesday.  Reports emerged last week of infected cattle at a farm in the city of Pocheon, about 45 kilometers north of Seoul, the first such case in eight years. South Korean quarantine officials promptly culled all of the animals at the farm to keep the disease from spreading.

Following the report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service indefinitely postponed its scheduled amendment of South Korea's disease status with regard to rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease, according to the Washington office of the Korea International Trade Association.  The delay will likely extend a current ban on South Korean beef exports to the U.S.  Foot-and-mouth disease, which rarely affects humans, is sometimes fatal for cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep, pigs and goats.

Gov't to cull 15 more cows to stem foot-and-mouth disease [English: CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/01/13/70/0501000000AEN2010011300

9000320F.HTML

Summary: The government said Wednesday that it will cull an additional 15 heads of meat cattle as a precautionary measure to stem an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the country.  The animals are all at a cattle ranch in Pocheon, 45 kilometers north of Seoul, near the dairy farm where the first outbreak was confirmed Thursday, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.

Gov't pledges readiness against foot-and-mouth [English: CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/01/13/0502000000AEN2010011300

4700320.HTML

Summary: The government is ready to respond swiftly and effectively to any future foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks, the head of the animal quarantine service said Wednesday.  Lee Joo-ho, chief of the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, said in a news conference that government experts are checking farms throughout the country for any signs of more cases of the highly contagious animal illness.

Outbreak of FMD not a threat to local demand [Korean: English, BYK]

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=001&oid=044&aid

=0000088400

Summary: The latest outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Korea is not an immediate threat to domestic consumption, government and industry officials said yesterday.  "The outbreak has not triggered any panic among consumers, so there has been no sudden drop in meat consumption here at home," Kim Dong-il, an official at the livestock management division of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, told The Korea Herald.  "Consumers today are much more highly aware of and more responsible about food issues compared to the past," he added.

Gov't to tighten quarantine controls to stem spread of FMD [English: CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/01/15/90/0501000000AEN201001150

03000320F.HTML

Summary: South Korea will tighten quarantine measures to stem the spread of the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and assist farmers hurt by the outbreak, the government said Friday.  The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said after a national policy management meeting chaired by the prime minister that all livestock and movement of people in areas affected by the FMD outbreak are being strictly regulated by local officials. It also said inspections have been strengthened at international airports and harbors to keep out meat and animal products that may have been responsible for the latest outbreak.

2nd hoof-and-mouth disease outbreak found north of Seoul [English: CSY]

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2915350

Summary: Second foot-and-mouth disease outbreak has been contained at a meat cattle farm in Pocheon, 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of Seoul, the government said yesterday. The animals at the farm began showing symptoms of the disease early Wednesday, causing local quarantine officials to order the culling and burial of 15 hanwoo cows, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said. Hanwoo refers to a breed of meat cattle indigenous to Korea.  It said of the animals culled, two have tested positive for the disease.

The farm in question is 3.5 kilometers away from where the first outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease was reported last week. The ministry added that it has started culling livestock within a 500-meter radius of the cattle farm to prevent further outbreaks of the highly contagious disease.  Six livestock farms, including the one that reported the second outbreak, are inside the quarantine zone, raising some 148 head of cattle. Two deer farms and a pig farm with 1,200 animals are also within the affected area.

5th Foot-and-Mouth Disease Case Confirmed [English: CSY]

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2010/01/123_59287.html

Summary: The government was on high alert Tuesday after Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi Province, confirmed another case of foot-and-mouth disease at a cattle farm there.  This is the fifth reported case of the disease since the first was confirmed on Jan. 7 in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said. Two more suspected cases were reported Tuesday at farms in Pocheon and Seosan, South Chungcheong Province.

The farms are currently under quarantine with the reported cows under close examination ― a final assessment will be made today, according to the ministry. Emergency quarantine and decontamination measures are in place throughout Pocheon. The ministry said it will decontaminate all areas within a 10-kilometer radius of disease outbreak sites.

A total of 3,168 animals, including 1,906 cattle, have so far been slaughtered.  The number is much smaller than the 160,055 culled during an outbreak in 2002. Since then, no foot-and-mouth cases had been reported before last month.

Namyang Dairy gets certification from Kazakh pediatricians [English: CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/01/20/57/0503000000AEN2010012000

8900315F.HTML

Summary: Namyang Dairy Products Co., South Korea's No.2 manufacturer of milk products, said Wednesday that its three milk powder products have been officially certified by pediatricians in Kazakhstan.  A Kazak association of pediatricians has permitted the company to use the organization's logo on the packaging and in commercials for the products. It is also recommending Namyang's products to maternities and children's hospitals in the Central Asian country.

KREI estimates that the economic effect that COO and beef traceability has brought to the Hanwoo farmers is 1 trillion won [Korean: BYK]

http://www.nongmin.com/article/ar_detail.htm?ar_id=170359&subMenu=articletotal

Summary: KREI estimated that the economic effect of introducing the Country-of-origin labeling in restaurants and beef traceability is estimated to be 1.0365 trillion won for the period July 2008 to December 2009.

Korea can ask the United States for renegotiation depending on Taiwan [Korean: BYK]

http://mbn.mk.co.kr/news/newsRead.php?vodCode=481990&category=mbn00000

Full translation: In relation to the Taiwanese Congress that passed the Act to prohibit the import of six (6) BSE risk cuts from the United States, the Minister for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries stated that we will ask for renegotiation depending on the content of the renegotiations between the United States and Taiwan. 

The Minister made this comment by saying that if an agreement is reached between the United States and Taiwan, we are naturally in a position to make such requests at the level where the agreement (between the two countries) were reached.  He made this comment during the full session meeting of the Standing Committee on Agriculture & Marine Affairs of the National Assembly on January 19. 

However, he added that in order for the Act to be implemented, a negotiation between the United States and Taiwan is needed and that he would observe the progress being made in the negotiation.  As for the issue of revising the Act on Prevention of Epidemic Livestock Diseases that would strengthen the import prohibition of U.S. beef to the same level as Taiwan, the Minister conveyed that the United States has conveyed its regrets and that there are some opinions at the working level in the United States that is asserting that the United States should look into the possibility of taking this issue to the WTO.

Court rules that producers of PD Diary is not at fault [Korean: BYK]

http://mbn.mk.co.kr/news/newsRead.php?vodCode=482149&category=mbn00009

Summary: The Seoul court ruled that the producers of PD report did not do anything wrong.  It ruled that although there were some parts where the program had exaggerated, it had not altered the facts.

One-sided promotion of safety of imported beef [Korean: BYK]

http://www.pressian.com/article/article.asp?article_num=40100127085515

Summary: It was recently revealed that a program about the safety and taste of imported beef that was aired on December 26, 2009 had actually been sponsored by the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.  This news was revealed by a sister company of MBC, that had aired the PD Diary which had initiated the candle light protest. 

S. Korea tightens border inspections after Beijing FMD outbreak [English: CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2010/01/25/0502000000AEN201001

25006100320.HTML

Summary: South Korea tightened quarantine inspections at all international airports and harbors following the confirmed outbreak of foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease in Beijing, the government said Monday.  The farm ministry said it has increased the number of quarantine inspectors on duty from 77 to 94 and doubled the number of random checks for imported dried grass at international ports after Chinese authorities said cattle on a farm in the capital city contracted FMD.

Korea in Fresh Bid to Be Declared Mad Cow-Free [English: CSY]

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/01/25/2010012500404.html

Summary: Korea has filed an application to be declared free of the risk of mad cow disease with the world organization for animal health (OIE). An official with the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Sunday said Seoul submitted the BSE risk grading application on Jan. 8.  The OIE's Scientific Committee is expected to review the application in February in order to classify Korea in one of three risk grades at a general session in May.

Korea likely to receive BSE controlled risk category in May 2010 [Korean: BYK]

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=101&oid=001&aid=0003088636

Summary: MIFAFF announced that it had submitted relevant information to OIE to be assessed for its BSE risk and expects to be recognized as BSE controlled risk category.  MIFAFF expects the OIE assessment to become available by May of this year.

China bans imports of Korean dairy products [Korean: BYK]

http://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0104_201001280335009799

Summary: The outbreak of FMD has impacted the export of Korean dairy products to China.  The Chinese government announced that it was banning the imports of Korean dairy products due to concerns over the recent outbreak of FMD in Pochun.