The opposition camp urged the government on Thursday to immediately suspend the import and the quarantine of U.S. beef, as one case of mad cow disease was recently reported in California.

The South Korean government reinforced its quarantine inspections in response, but nevertheless continued the beef imports.

“The government should abide by its earlier pledge to discontinue all imports, should a case of mad cow disease break out in U.S. beef,” said Rep. Park Jie-won of the main opposition Democratic United Party.

Rep. Cho Kyoung-tae, DUP member of the parliamentary knowledge economy committee, took a step further and urged the administration to renegotiate the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and call off the clause on opening the local beef market.

“The government is neglecting the security of its people to please the U.S. counterpart,” said the spokesperson of the minority Unified Progressive Party in a statement.

Amid escalating concerns, the ruling Saenuri Party also issued a statement Wednesday to request that the administration take necessary measures but the leadership has so far refrained from speaking out on the issue.

The presidential office rejected the left-wing’s claims and said that the current situation does not constitute a significant threat to public health, as is required by the quarantine law in order to halt the imports.

Back in 2008, President Lee Myung-bak decided to resume the long-stalled beef import talks with the U.S., which sparked a nationwide mad cow disease fright and months of anti-government rallies.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)