Five years ago, the United States' third largest market for exported beef, South Korea, ceased importing the meat for fear of mad cow disease. A gruesome, terrible disease that results in a spongy, deriorating brain and spine, mad cow posed a major threat to beef eaters back when South Korea eliminated American beef from its diet.

But now, perhaps because South Korea needs more beef, or because mad cow is old news, or simply because the trade between the US and South Korea carries a value of around $20 billion, the South Korean government announced that it would resume importing our beef.

This is great news for the economy, of course, which needs every boost it can get right now. And South Korea is being cautious, only accepting beef from cattle that are younger than 30 months at the time of slaughter. (Mad cow tends to affect older cattle more than young, since it has an incubation period of about four years.)

Nevertheless, I have to wonder about the primary motivations. Is mad cow truly no longer a threat, or is economic well-being worldwide simply privileged over our physical health?

In other words, who's winning in this deal, and at what cost?