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19 arrested over US beef protest in South Korea: report

AFP - Sunday, August 24

SEOUL (AFP) - - South Korean police arrested 19 people for illegally occupying streets here overnight in a continued protest against US beef imports, a report said Sunday.

They were among hundreds of people holding separate candlelit vigils Saturday through early Sunday, as protesters accused police of excessive use of force, Yonhap news agency said. Police refused to comment.

Seoul's decision in April to resume imports of almost all cuts of US beef sparked months of street protests over supposed health concerns, lifting a 2003 ban after a US case of mad cow disease.

The sometimes violent rallies largely subsided only after Seoul secured extra health safeguards for the meat. Sales resumed on July 1.

US exporters have now agreed not to send meat from cattle older than 30 months, which are seen as more at risk of the disease, and the US government will verify the age of the exports.

South Korea was once the world's third-largest market for US beef, with imports worth 850 million dollars a year.

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