SEOUL - SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice urged South Koreans on Saturday to trust official assurances that US beef is safe, following weeks of sometimes violent protests against the resumption of the imports.

About 20 people protesting the supposed dangers of mad cow disease greeted Dr Rice as she arrived at the foreign ministry for talks with her counterpart Yu Myung-Hwan.

'We don't need US troops, we don't need US mad cows,' read one sign.

'We continue to try to address the concerns of the South Korean government and I think we believe we made progress in that regard,' Dr Rice told reporters on her plane.

'We have with the South Korean government addressed concerns. We have come to a new set of arrangements, a new set of agreements.'

'I can only say that American beef is safe and that we hope in time the South Korean people will listen to that, and will be willing to listen to what their government is saying and what we are saying.'

The US, she said, 'believes strongly in the safety of its product and strongly in the benefits of trade between the US and an ally like South Korea'.

Seoul signed a deal in April to resume the imports, suspended in 2003 after a US mad cow case, in hopes of pushing forward with a wider trade deal.

The decision sparked off mass protests and Seoul went back to Washington to secure extra safeguards, even though both governments insist the meat is safe.

Rallies have become more violent since the government on Thursday formally resumed the trade.

A crowd of protesters, estimated by police at 4,000, squared off in central Seoul with riot police overnight Friday. There were scuffles but no major clashes.

A line of riot police and police buses blocked Sejong Street, the capital's main boulevard, on Saturday afternoon in anticipation of another protest in early evening.

Police are reportedly considering mixing tear gas with water from water cannons, ending a nine-year unofficial ban on the use of the gas. -- AFP