The two-day meeting in Seoul is not expected to lead to an immediate reopening of what was once the third-largest market for U.S. beef after Japan and Mexico.
An issue at the forefront of the discussions is whether South Korea should resume imports of beef ribs, which accounted for more than 60 percent of American beef shipments before the ban.
South Korea says it will only consider importing boneless meat, citing concerns some material inside bones could be dangerous to consume.
South Korea stopped U.S. beef imports in December 2003 after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease.
Japan, which had a similar ban, recently eased its prohibition on U.S. and Canadian beef after two years of negotiations and a lengthy approval process. Japan agreed to allow imports of meat from cattle younger than 21 months because no cases of mad cow disease have ever been found in cows that age.
