Local Cattles Are Raised in ‘Honeycomb’ Cells … 2/3 of a Sheet of A4 Paper Space for a Chicken … 2 Sheets of A4 Paper Space for a Swine … Vulnerable to Epidemic Diseases [Korean, OSY]

http://news.donga.com/Society/New/3/03/20110324/35832556/1

Summary: Reporters’ visits to local livestock farms revealed terrifying living environment of local cattle.  Most of the livestock animals raised in Korea are kept in honeycomb like tight cells with minimal access to sun lights and fresh air.  To prevent diseases under this unnatural living environment, animals are given vaccines and anti-bacteria shots on a regular basis.  The whole system is vulnerable to epidemic disease outbreaks.  It is likely that Korean government will introduce new measures that will promote better living environment for the animals and consequently help prevent disease outbreaks.

Livestock farms refusing to give up mass breeding [English, CSY]

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=020000&biid=2011032464868

Summary : National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, National Plant Quarantine Service, and National Fisheries Product Quality Inspection Service will be merged into one organization to strengthen quarantine capabilities.   The government, however, is known to have excluded a plan to limit the number of raised animals for fear of strong objections from livestock farms and difficulty in implementation.   A government source said, “Mass breeding is a serious problem, but with the size of most livestock farms smaller than the legal requirement, the plan has many obstacles.”

In a survey of 651 livestock farms nationwide conducted by the Korea Rural Economic Institute in October last year, more than half of the farms said they will not introduce an animal welfare-oriented breeding system or had interest in it. Sixty-five percent of pig and chicken farms that use mass breeding were also against the new system.   A pig farm owner told Dong-A, “Under the current livestock product distribution structure, animals cannot be sold for more money even if they’re raised in an environmentally friendly way,” adding, “Requiring us to reduce the heads of livestock is like asking us to die.”

Who is telling the truth about shot gun pellet [Korean: BYK]

http://www.sisaseoul.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=39252

U.S. had plans to push for Over-thirty-month (OTM) beef  [Korean: BYK]

http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/economy/economy_general/469632.html#

Summary: According to a report put out by CRS of the U.S. Congress (Embassy comment: We think the article is referring to OIG), the USG had plans to pressure the ROKG to get a firm promise for full liberalization of U.S. beef if the import volume of U.S. beef increases in Korea.   To fulfill this plan, the USG set up “4 detailed conditions” in August 2009.  This seems to be a reflection of what happened in April 2008 when it ran up against strong protest from the Korean consumers when both countries agreed to a full market opening without any conditions.  The conditions lay out detailed points on what could be considered as the time when confidence for U.S. beef has recovered, such as resume beef imports from OTM if there is no further BSE case found in the United States for 3-5 years, or if the market share of U.S. beef goes above a certain level, etc.