High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 2008 US beef protest in South Korea was a series of demonstrations which occurred between 24 May 2008 and about 18 July 2008 in Seoul, Korea involving, at its height, tens of thousands of people. The protest began after the government of South Korea reversed a ban on the importation of US beef. The ban had been in place since December 2003 when the prion responsible for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or `mad cow disease` had been detected in US beef cattle. The protests occurred on a background of talks concerning the US-Korea free trade agreement. Unrest was fanned by local media reports such as the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) PD Notebook program, "Is American Beef Really Safe from Mad Cow Disease?" televised on 27 April 2008.