South Korea's trade ministry denied a former president's claim that U.S. beef imports resumed in 2008 following a secret agreement between his predecessor and Washington, an opposition lawmaker said Thursday.
  

Rep. Baek Jae-hyun of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy said the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy wrote in response to his inquiry that there was no behind-the-scenes agreement and U.S. beef imports were resumed following a year of bilateral negotiations on the safety of the meat.
  

"The government, under the premise of guaranteeing public health and food safety as much as possible, concluded negotiations based on scientific grounds, international standards and the national interest," the trade ministry said, according to the letter disclosed by Baek.
  

The ministry's response comes amid controversy over former President Lee Myung-bak's claim in his recently published memoir that his administration resumed U.S. beef imports in his first year in office due to a prior secret agreement between his predecessor, late President Roh Moo-hyun, and then U.S. President George W. Bush.
  

The decision to start imports sparked weeks of massive anti-government street protests as many viewed it as a hasty move without the guarantee of safety checks against mad cow disease.
  

"As former President Roh said in a statement in April 2007 that (the negotiations) would be concluded within a reasonable period in line with the recommendations of the World Organization for Animal Health, we understand that there was no behind-the-scene agreement," the letter said.
  

The agriculture and foreign ministries also confirmed that there was no secret agreement, it added.
  

Baek accused Lee of making false claims in his memoir in order to escape responsibility for his decision.
  

"The government has officially confirmed that the content of the memoir is false," he said. (Yonhap)