[THE INVESTOR] Imports of foreign beef have risen in the first five months of this year, latest data shows.

Beef imports soared 8 percent to 170,176 tons for the January-May period from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.

US beef imports moved up 7.5 percent to 63,027 tons from 58,610 tons while Australian beef shipments dipped 0.2 percent to 80,713 tons from 80,891 tons.

US beef was the foreign beef with the most market share in Korea until the early 2000s when US beef imports were banned due to the mad cow disease outbreak in the North American country. US beef imports resumed in 2008.

Australian beef imports have been shrinking in recent months after a drought in 2015.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)