Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-chun announced Thursday that South Korea's government will allow U.S. beef imports.

According to The Associated Press, Chung said that the government has made new quarantine regulations for U.S. beef, respecting an April 18 agreement made with Washington.

The deal interdicts the import of tonsils, brains, spinal cord marrow and a section of the small intestine which are the most likely to transmit the mad cow disease to humans.

In 2003, South Korea stopped the U.S. beef imports because of a mad cow disease case announced in the United States.

The ban will be lifted after the government makes the rules public . This should take a couple of days.

Apparently 5,300 tons of U.S. beef have arrived in South Korea but they have been held in quarantine. The beef will be inspected next week, before being put out for sale.

The Agriculture Minister said that, if another case of mad cow disease was found in the U.S., the government would stop the imports.

It is very unlikely that this statement will have a positive impact on South Koreans because protesters from Seoul said that the measure does not protect South Korea from the infected beef.

It is estimated that about 10,000 protesters would gather Thursday night in Seoul to form a rally, reported The Associated Press.

U.S. Meat Export Federation informed that, since the market for the beef has closed, the U.S. beef industry lost about $4 billion.