South Korea will resume US beef imports from Thursday after securing extra health safeguards aimed at placating protesters, officials said.

New rules on the imports will be posted Thursday in the government gazette, the ruling Grand National Party said in a statement after a meeting with senior government officials.

Imports can resume immediately after such a posting, an agriculture ministry spokesman said AFP.

The imports were suspended in 2003 after a case of mad cow disease in the United States. An April agreement to resume them sparked off weeks of mass street protests which shook the new government of President Lee Myung-Bak.

Last week the Seoul government announced that it has won extra safeguards against the supposed mad cow disease dangers.

US exporters will not send cattle older than 30 months, seen as more at risk of the disease, and the US government will verify the age of the exports.

Some 5,000 tons of frozen beef are already in Korea awaiting inspection and these would be the first shipments to be scrutinised, the spokesman said.