"Burger King apologizes to Dong-A Ilbo."

This article is a little vague and I'm not sure what exactly they're apologizing for. It looks like it was the Dong-A Ilbo reporter who passed along misinformation, suggesting that McDonald's and Burger King restaurants in Korea would use beef over 30 months, although it's not clear on that point. An excerpt from today's article:

The apology was made with regard to a June 21 column entitled “Science and Reason,” written by senior editorial writer Hwang Ho-taek.

Hwang said in the column, “Surrendering to the nationwide candlelight vigil protests, the government announced not to import beef from cattle older than 30 months through an additional negotiation with the United States. But beef from cattle older than 30 months, whose specified risk materials are removed, can be used in hamburgers served in McDonald’s and Burger King. If the candlelight vigil rallies succeeded in preventing “hamburger beef,” which is Americans’ dietary food, from entering the nation, those who held candles in protests would probably feel disheartened.”

Hwang based his writing on what were reported in the American news media. A Wall Street Journal article dated June 6 said, “(Korean) protesters and politicians from opposition parties request a renegotiation that will ban trade of beef from cattle older than 30 months. However, some 20 percent of beef used for hamburgers in the United States is from cattle over 30 months old.” USA Today said in an editorial piece dated June 12, “Americans who eat hamburgers couldn’t understand why tens of thousands of Koreans are staging protests against U.S. beef.”

Interesting to speculate whether American chains will begin using American beef. As it stands now, though, McDonald's has stickers on every table advertising their use of Australian and New Zealand beef. Burger King, too, like the other big restaurant chains, advertises where its beef comes from.