Rice urges South Koreans to eat US beef

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Rice also said she hoped the beef controversy won't distract from important issues facing the U.S. and South Korea, most notably the six-nation talks over North Korea's nuclear program.

"In terms of differences that sometimes arise from trade disputes, they are normal in relations between states," Rice told a joint news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan.

Rice arrived in Seoul a day after neighboring North Korea destroyed the cooling tower at its main nuclear facility. The demolition followed moves earlier this week by the U.S. to lift sanctions against Pyongyang, in response to the communist nation submitting a long-delayed declaration of its nuclear programs.

"I expect that the North will live up to the obligations that it's undertaken, to take those concerns seriously and to address them," Rice said of suspicions left out of the declaration, such as Pyongyang's alleged uranium enrichment and nuclear proliferation.

"At the end of this, we have to have the abandonment of all programs, weapons and materials," she said.

Rice later met with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

In South Korea, the long-running nuclear issue has been of less public concern than Seoul's agreement to lift a ban on American beef imports in April as a way to restore strained ties with Washington.

Activists have been staging daily rallies on the streets of Seoul to voice their concerns about possible health risks such as mad cow disease. As officials began inspecting U.S. beef Friday before it can reach markets, hundreds of labor activists blocked customs storage facilities.

"I can only say that American beef is safe and we hope that in time the South Korean people will listen to that and will be willing to listen to what their government is saying and what we're saying," Rice said earlier en route to Seoul. "The U.S. believes strongly in the safety of its product."

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