Push-and Pull Tactic Keeps Beef Hope Alive
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
South Korea's trade minister is back at the negotiation table. Now the question is whether Seoul can capitalize on Kim Jong-hoon's dramatic push-and-pull strategy that briefly halted the additional beef talks Monday.
Since the top negotiator's return to Washington, he has been in an unofficial meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement.
Washington officials reportedly handed over an updated revision of the deal, according to Yonhap News. Details of the revision are unknown, but observers say the unofficial discussion could lead to an early conclusion of the complex talks.
``Officials talked today and both countries spent the day internally reviewing technical issues,'' Yonhap quoted a ministry official as saying.
Ministers are set to meet Wednesday morning (KST), one day later than originally planned due to scheduling delays.
South Korea is asking the U.S. to grant assurances to encourage its meat exporters to voluntarily refrain from exporting beef from cattle aged 30 months and older, which is known to carry a higher risk of mad cow disease.
The talks took a new turn after Kim's temporary departure from Washington, which observers assumed was due to serious difficulties in the negotiations. However, he returned after his U.S. counterparts requested he come back.
Officials in Seoul are carefully speculating that the U.S. may have a better offer in mind to keep the dialogue going,
U.S. President George W. Bush, who returned home Monday from Europe, is also expected to make final requests to the USTR, which may ultimately alter the details of the revision.
The trade minister left for Washington last Friday after the original bilateral beef deal unleashed major protests here among those against U.S. meat imports.