Summary

TAPE: EF03/1146 IN_TIME: 07:23:05 DURATION: 2:26 SOURCES: APTN/YTN RESTRICTIONS: DATELINE: Seoul, 24 Dec 2003 SHOTLIST: YTN 1 Wide shot of briefing room in the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture 2 Various reporters 3 SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Kim Chang-seop, Director of Livestock Quarantine Department, South Korean Ministry of Agriculture: After receiving the report that a single case of possible mad cow (BSE) disease was found on a Washington state farm in the United States, the Ministry of Agriculture decided to indefinitely suspend customs inspections of US beef and other cow parts 4 Various of media 5 SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Kim Chang-seop, Director of Livestock Quarantine Department, South Korean Ministry of Agriculture: Also the ministry will withhold meats which are already in the middle of customs inspections and indefinitely suspend sales of US beef and cow parts already on the market as a precautions Also we will constantly check how other countries, such as Japan, deal with this matter and take immediate measures APTN 6 Mid shot of a customer at meat sales section in Koryo market in downtown, Seoul 7 Pan over beef and pork 8 Close up of US imported beef sign 9 Tilt down from customer to meat 10 SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Voxpop, Kim Sook-hyun: I'm uncomfortable eating imported beef Korean farmers also raise a lot of cows for meat So there's no reason to eat beef imported from the country which has mad cow disease 11 SOUNDBITE: (Korean) Voxpop, Moo- Kwang-sik: If we couldn't buy imported beef (which is cheaper than Korean beef), it would be a burden for households, I think 12 Various shots of meat being chopped and sold 13 Various shots of meat display 14 Close up of meat stand sign 15 Wide shot of meat section STORYLINE South Korea halted imports of US beef on Wednesday and suspended sales of US beef and cow parts already on the market amid a mad cow scare in the United States The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry said in a statement it was indefinitely suspending customs inspections of US beef to stop the inflow, citing concerns about the fatal brain wasting bovine illness The suspended sales and inspections take effect immediately, but the ministry did not say how long they would last South Korea was the second-most-valuable export market for US beef last year, behind Japan The suspension came a day after a single Holstein on a Washington state farm tested positive for mad cow, marking the disease's first suspected appearance in the United States The Bush administration has tried to reassure Americans their food is safe South Korea suspended customs inspections of US beef and sales of meat already on the market as a precaution, the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry said US beef exports to South Korea totaled 213,000 tons worth 610 (m) million dollars in 2002, making it the second-biggest market, according to US Meat Export Federation spokeswoman Park Jung-min in Seoul South Korea ranks third, behind Japan and Mexico, if internal organs and other cow parts are included in the export figures, Park said Mad cow disease is believed to spread by recycling meat and bones from infected animals back into cattle feed The disease is thought to cause the fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans who eat infected beef CJD kills its carrier by tearing holes in brain tissue