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By Miyoung Kim

SEOUL, June 26 (Reuters) - South Korea allowed U.S. beef back into its market for the first time in nine months on Thursday, but fierce public opposition means it will take years for the once popular cuts to win back their number one imports position.

U.S. beef has been on a tumultuous ride in South Korea, with consumers snapping up cheap steaks a year ago after a three-year ban, and this year launching street protests against what some see as a mad-cow time bomb.

"There is definitely demand for U.S. beef but early consumption will be very small at around 50,000 tonnes (this year), because consumer confidence in U.S. beef is so low," said Kim Jin-kyo, a researcher at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy.

South Korea, which banned U.S. beef for about three years from the end of 2003 after an outbreak of mad cow disease, used to import 200,000 tonnes of the product a year with a value of about $850 million, about 40 percent of the total market.

With U.S. beef gone, meat from Australia and New Zealand took a bigger share of imports. South Korea had been U.S. beef producers' third-largest overseas market.

"It'll take a while for the U.S. products to restore sales momentum and initial sales are likely to target high-end markets such as hotels serving foreigners," Kim said.

For a graphic on the South Korean beef market, click on: https://customers.reuters.com/d/graphics/KRbeef0608.gif

South Korea said it would resume quarantine checks on Thursday, allowing some 5,300 tonnes of U.S. beef that has been in frozen storage since October to be inspected immediately and sent to stores as early as next week.

"We have received three requests for inspection so far," an official at the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service said, adding some 20 importers were preparing to make inspection requests later on Thursday.

When the U.S. and South Korea struck a deal in April to allow in all cuts of U.S. beef regardless of the age of the cattle, South Koreans took to the streets by the tens of thousands, saying the pact opened the way for potentially dangerous products.

U.S. and South Korean officials insisted U.S. beef was safe but still reworked their deal limit trade to cattle under 30 months of age, thought to pose less of a risk of mad cow disease.

Second-month U.S. live cattle futures <LCc2>, which have struggled to keep up with a broader commodities rally, moved from a one-and-a-half year low in mid-April to a contract high last week as traders expect high corn prices to mean lower herd sizes going forward.

CHILLY RECEPTION

Once the beef clears quarantine checks, it seems a chilly reception awaits, with a recent survey saying about two-thirds of South Koreans think U.S. beef is not safe and major retailers saying they will not sell it due to lack of demand.

"I'm not going to switch to U.S. beef just because it's cheap. I'd rather continue to have Australian meat," said Lee Jung-eun, a mother of two children.

South Korean labour activists on Thursday pledged to block trucks carrying U.S. beef that has been waiting in storage from reaching store shelves.

But while South Koreans say they are unwilling to give U.S. beef a chance, analysts point out that when the country ended its three-year ban last year, consumers jammed stores to purchase inexpensive U.S. meat.

South Korea has some of the world's highest domestic beef prices, because of farm subsidies and a complex distribution system that raises costs. U.S. beef has typically sold at about half the cost or less of similar cuts of local beef.

"Importers are struggling due to falling demand but we expect consumption will slowly recover," said Park Chang-kyu, head of A-Meat and a meat importers' association.

With no restrictions, U.S. beef exports to South Korea could reach $1.1 billion initially, the International Trade Commission said.

The main loser looks likely to be Australia, which in the years since the ban has seen its sales to South Korea more than double to nearly 150,000 tonnes, giving it three quarters of the import market.

Importers said they expect U.S. beef to be some 30 percent cheaper than Australian meat, with initial consumption from mid-sized retailers or butchers as well as makers of processed foods.

Analysts and importers expect safety fears to diminish over the next few months with the beef gradually making its way back to major supermarket chains.

"There is not a soul in the world that is forcing anyone to eat it (U.S. beef)," U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters this week.

For a related factbox, click on [ID:nSEO263993] (Additional reporting by Kim Junghyun and Paul Eckert; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner and Michael Urquhart)

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