The United States acknowledged Wednesday that it shipped beef cuts to South Korea that are currently banned due to a mad cow disease scare.
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said one box of U.S. beef that reached Seoul last weekend contained backbone that should have been removed.
"My hope is that there isn't a ban on U.S. beef or anything like that," he told reporters. He did not say which company shipped the material.
The vertebral column is considered a high-risk bone material linked to the cause of mad cow disease.
South Korea in January last year lifted a ban of more than two years on all American beef, citing health concerns after the discovery of the mad cow disease at a U.S. cattle farm. But it agreed only to resume imports of boneless products from animals age 30 months or younger.
The Asian nation, which in June signed a free trade agreement with the U.S., has been considering removing import restrictions on bone-in beef as well.
(Yonhap)