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By Kwon Tae-ho, Washington Correspondent

It has emerged that South Korea was the world’s biggest importer of U.S. beef in the first quarter of 2011.

Data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Meat Export Federation show that total beef exports in Q1 of this year amounted to 209,048 tons, a 33 percent increase on the 156,947 tons imported during the same period last year. Of this total, South Korea imported 46,739 tons, representing an increase of around three times that of Q1 of 2010. The USDA pointed to the decrease in South Korean domestic meat supply following the recent foot and mouth disease break as resulting in a steep increase in imports of U.S. beef to Korea.

South Korea’s leap in U.S. beef consumption has sent it straight to first place among U.S. beef importing countries worldwide, after ranking third behind Mexico and Canada. In Q1 of 2011, around 22.4 percent of all U.S. beef exported went to Korea (the figure for the corresponding period last year was 10.6 percent). In monetary terms, South Korea spent $214.81 million (233 billion won) on U.S. beef imports. The U.S. share of South Korea’s beef import market, meanwhile, stood at 38 percent, a sharp increase over the 30.5 percent figure for Q1 of 2010.

Despite the large increase in U.S. beef imports by South Korea, it is reported that the U.S. is increasing sales promotion in at attempt to completely open up the Korean market. At a hearing at the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture on the subject of free trade agreements (FTAs) on May 12, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack stated, “The United States is planning to embark on large-scale marketing activity for U.S. beef in Korea following the ratification of the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement [KORUS FTA].”

Attempting to win over committee members pushing for the complete opening of the Korean market to U.S. beef of over than 30 months old, Vilsack said, “If the KORUS FTA is ratified, aggressive marketing, centered on the U.S. Meat Export Federation, will take place, and I believe this plan would be successful.”

At the same hearing, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk stated that the U.S. planned a closer approach to beef markets in the Asian region in line with international standards. This is understood as meaning promoting the opening of the South Korean market to U.S. beef from animals over 30 months old.

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