US president on Asia visit
Updated
The US president, George W Bush, is starting a three-nation trip to Asia during which he will attend the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.
He will first visit South Korea and Thailand.
The South Korean government of President Lee Myung-Bak had been facing mass protests over its decision to lift an embargo on US beef imports introduced in 2003 in the wake of cases of mad cow disease in the United States.
Mr Bush and Mr Lee are expected to discuss a strategic alliance as well as efforts to end North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
They would also look into the fate of a free trade agreement already signed by the two governments but awaiting the approval of their legislatures.
The lifting of the beef embargo has removed one of the obstacles on the way toward ratification by the US Congress of the free trade pact, but the issue was far from resolved and Mr Bush stopped short on giving firm assurances on the matter.
