February 5, 2009

South Korea's department stores are preparing to sell US beef as early as next month, industry officials said on Wednesday (Feb 4).

Officials at Lotte Department Store said the retailer is consulting with partner firms to begin selling US beef before April.

Others department stores such as Hyundai and Shinsegae are taking similar steps.

Hyundai will start selling US beef imports in the first quarter of the year, according to Hyundai officials.

Lotte officials said the sale of US beef will not increase much revenue since the proportion of US beef out of the total is less than 10 percent.

Lotte is just trying to widen consumer choices, and will sell premium parts of US beef, said the officials.

Sources said department stores plan to announce the sale of US beef through newspaper advertisements, and to monitor public sentiment over the decision to sell the product.