[KVOLUTION]

Korea will maintain a resolute stance to defend its interests if Canada refers Seoul's beef import ban to the World Trade Organization's (WTO) dispute settlement panel, Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday.

There is no way to know if Canada will opt to ask for arbitration, but Seoul will take active steps and deal with all developments, Yonhap quoted an agriculture ministry official in Seoul as saying.

The comments come as the deadline for bilateral negotiations comes due on Monday.

Under WTO rules on dispute settlements, a bilateral consultation is the first step in working out a discord, with talks to begin within 30 days of the request being officially filed. If no agreement is reached within 60 days of the request, the complainant can ask for a dispute settlement panel to be set up that can make a definitive ruling.

"It is our wish that Ottawa will accept certain conditions that reflect local consumer concerns on Canadian beef," the working level official was quoted as saying.

He did not go into details, but pointed out that Canada reported 16 confirmed cases of mad cow disease since 2003, making it hard for Seoul to allow complete access to all beef cuts.

South Korea had banned all imports after May 2003 when the first mad cow disease case was reported. The brain wasting illness is suspected of causing the fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans.

"The number is far greater than the three reported in the United States so it would be 'natural' if South Korea tried to limit what kind of beef cuts could be brought into the country," the official said.