S. Koreans protest US beef imports

South Koreans took to the streets on Monday night to protest against a beef import deal with the United States, as police released more than half of the 68 people detained in earlier protests.

A crowd of about 3-thousand marched through central Seoul after holding a candlelight vigil, demanding the government renegotiate the agreement which critics say does not protect the country from beef infected with mad cow disease.

South Korea suspended US beef imports after the first American case of mad cow disease appeared in December 2003. The new beef agreement scrapped nearly all the quarantine restrictions imposed by the previous government. South Korea and the US agreed to the landmark accord last year, but the deal must still be ratified by legislatures in both countries.