Chaos, clashes as US beef returns to South Korea

SEOUL, July 13 (Reuters) Scuffles erupted at meat counters in South Korean stores on Friday as cheap US beef went on sale for the first time in four years.

Sales were suspended at some stores as trade activists staged protests, but elsewhere shoppers bought up entire cases of the meat, which sold for about half the price of domestic beef.

Beef imports have become a hotly contested issue between South Korea and the United States, with US lawmakers saying they may not approve a sweeping bilateral free trade pact struck earlier this year if Seoul does not fully open its beef market.

Activists, who said US beef imports would destroy the livelihoods of South Korean farmers, targeted major outlets of Lotte Mart, the country's third-largest supermarket chain.

The retailer had halted sales since 2003 when the country banned the product due to an outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States.

Glass display cases were smashed when around 200 protesters stormed the beef section of Lotte Mart in Seoul Station, where they got into a pushing match with riot police. Order was restored when the store manager promised to stop beef sales for the day.

South Korea has some of the highest beef prices in the world and several shoppers were disappointed that they could not buy cheap US beef.

''US beef suits our taste because they use the same feed in the United States as they do here,'' shopper Chung Young-ja said, standing with an empty shopping basket at Lotte Mart.

At Lotte Mart, US beef was sold at 3,950 won (.31) per 100 grams, compared with as much as 8,350 won for Korean beef.

South Korea had agreed to allow imports of boneless US beef last year.

The meat has made a slow return to store shelves because of safety concerns and strict restrictions on bone-in beef.

South Korea was the third largest market for US beef before the ban in 2003.

REUTERS NC BD1502