South Korea’s imports of U.S. beef surged this year, industry data showed Tuesday, as Asia’s fourth-largest economy struggled to contain foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
According to the data compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation, South Korea imported 20,340 tons of U.S. beef through Feb. 17 this year, compared with 11,209 tons in the first two months of last year.
* South Korea bought a total of 101,816 tons of U.S. beef last year, up 94 per cent from a year earlier, according to the federation.
* The figures show that American beef, whose imports lost ground in 2008 amid public anger over U.S. beef imports on mad cowdisease, continued to regain its popularity.
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