The share of American beef surpassed 50 percent in the country's imported beef market for the first time since 2003 on the back of the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement(FTA).
 
According to data by the Korea International Trade Association(KITA) on Monday, U.S. beef accounted for 50-point-seven percent of the imported beef market as of October.
 
The figure had stayed above the 50 percent level since 1993, hitting nearly 76 percent in 2003.
 
But the figure plunged to 17-and-a-half percent in 2004 after U.S. beef imports were fully banned in 2003 following confirmed cases of mad cow disease in the U.S. 
 
After a series of negotiations, South Korea resumed U.S. beef imports from 2008.
 
The share of U.S. beef steadily increased to the 50 percent level this year from some 37 percent in 2012, when the South Korea-U.S. FTA took effect. With the surge, U.S. beef regained the number one spot in the imported beef market in 14 years this year.
 
Meanwhile, KITA also found that the share of Australian beef in the nation's imported beef market fell to some 44 percent this year from some 79 percent in 2006.