For the past several years, U.S. pork ex­­ports to South Kor­ea have experienc­ed peaks and valleys driven by changing market conditions with­­in Korea, according to Jihae Yang, U.S. Meat Export Federation director for South Korea.

The first quarter of 2014 has been promising, with U.S. pork sales to Korea climbing 15 percent in volume and 21 percent in value to 40,143 metric tons...