The rapid evolution of antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus (S.) aureus is of considerable concern. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains are especially one of the greatest public concerns since the treatment of infections is more difficult when encountering resistance. In this study, we conducted a nationwide survey on the antimicrobial resistance of S. aureus isolated from raw meat samples collected from 16 countries, including Korea, and investigated the prevalence of MRSA as a possible source of human infection. Of 1,984 meat samples, S. aureus was isolated from 218 (11.0%) samples consisting of 23 (12.1%) from domestic meat and 195 (10.9%) from imported meat. The isolated rates of poultry meat, pork and beef were 12.8%, 7.0% and 10.0%, respectively. With regard to imported meat, the incidence varied from 4.8% to 16.6% from 13 countries, with the exception of Austria and Poland. In a resistance test to 20 antimicrobial agents, one hundred and eighty-four isolates (84.4%) were resistant to one or more antimicrobial agents tested. Especially, 17 (7.8%), 124 (56.9%) and 28 (12.8%) isolates showed a resistance to 3, 2 and 1 drugs, respectively. One isolate originating from domestic beef was resistant to 7 drugs. Another isolate originating from imported poultry meat showed resistance to oxacillin and methicillin by the disk diffusion test and minimal inhibition concentration method, but showed negative for detection of the mecA gene.