SEOUL -- South Korea's import of pork and beef surged in the first half of this year as the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) drove millions of livestock to be culled, the animal quarantine agency said Tuesday.

South Korea imported 219,681 tons of pork in the first six months of this year, up 120 percent from a year earlier, according to the Animal, Plant and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency.

Beef import amounted to 187,874 tons in the first half, up 29 percent over the same period last year, according to the agency.

The sharp increase was mainly attributable to the outbreak of FMD, which led the government to cull millions of pigs along with thousands of head of cattle.

Pork imported from the US, which accounted for 43.4 percent of the total pork import, reached 95,380 tons in the first half, up 223 percent from a year earlier. Import from Canada also soared 191 percent on-year to 31,376 tons.

Beef imported from Australia, accounting for 47.7 percent of the total beef import, stood at 89,659 tons during the January- June period, up 20.8 percent from a year before. The US beef import grew 54.6 percent on-year to 43,990 tons over the cited period.