S. Korea, US Resume Ministerial Beef Talks

South Korea and the United States resumed their ministerial talks Thursday morning (Korean time) to discuss ensuring the safety of U.S. beef in South Korea.

South Korea's Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon arrived at the U.S. Trade Representative Office at around 6:30 p.m. and said, "I have nothing to add to what I said yesterday," Yonhap News reported.

Earlier in the day, Kim and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab held an informal meeting over lunch. "We just had an informal meeting," Schwab told reporters while entering the USTR building after a two-hour meeting with Trade Minister Kim at an undisclosed place.

The Kim-Schwab meeting, the fourth of its kind since Friday, was delayed at the request of the American side and the reason of the delay was not immediately known.

The meeting comes ahead of a speech South Korean President Lee Myong-bak plans to make Thursday afternoon apologizing to the nation for bungled policies related to South Korea's resumption of U.S. beef imports.

The April 18 beef import deal sparked massive protests across the nation and prompted President Lee's Cabinet to offer resignations en masse.

Gretchen Hamel, Schwab's spokeswoman, didn't elaborate on the substance of the meeting, but stressed the importance of the talks. "Someone gave her presentation in her absence" since the USTR was attending the strategic dialogue with China held in Annapolis, Md., and that "This is a priority for her and this administration so much ... we are working toward a mutually agreeable path forward," according to Yonhap

Lee's approval ratings plummeted below 20 percent after the beef row erupted. He won the December presidential election by the largest margin ever thanks to his campaign pledges to revive the faltering South Korean economy.