South Korea has become the largest export destination for U.S. beef.

Statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that South Korea’s imports of U.S. beef in March has more than tripled from a year before.

This is more than the amount of imports by the traditional top two markets for U.S. beef, Mexico and Japan.

More than one-quarter of all U.S. beef exports, or 111-thousand tons, have been sold in South Korea during the month of March this year.

February imports of U.S. beef have surged by 51-percent from the month before, due to the culling of large numbers of cattle due to the foot-and-mouth disease. In March, beef imports from the U.S. jumped 52-percent from February.