1. BILATERAL/MULTILATERAL ISSUES

<6/27/2013> Trade commission recognizes damage from Korea-EU FTA [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2013/06/27/73/0502000000AEN20130627002100320F.HTML

Summary: South Korea's trade commission has recognized damage to a local company from the country's bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union, the government said Thursday.  The commission has said the domestic market share of South Korean pork processors stood at 84.76 percent with that of European pork products standing at 5.65 percent in 2010. The market share of South Korean products shrank to 70.98 percent at the end of 2012 while that of European products surged to 12.22 percent.

2. ECONOMIC ISSUES

Korea's consumer prices increase by 1% in June [English, CSY]

http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=148743

Summary: Korea's consumer price increase remained in the stable one-percent range for the eighth straight month in June.  In a report released Monday, Statistics Korea said consumer prices recorded a one percent increase in June compared to the previous month.  The report showed a 5.6 percent increase in public utility prices but a 5.1 percent drop in petroleum product prices, as well as a decline in agricultural and livestock product prices.  Experts attribute the sluggish rise in consumer prices to slow demand for raw materials stemming from the economic slump at home and abroad.

3. LIVESTOCK ISSUES

<6/26/2013> Sales of Chicken Soup Soar As Dry Weather Continues [English, CSY]

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2013/06/26/2013062600990.html

Full text: Savory foods that help refresh and rejuvenate the body are selling like there's no tomorrow amid the sweltering weather conditions that have made for an unusual start to this year’s rainy season.  Lotte Mart said its sales of chicken -- the main ingredient of samgyetang, or ginseng chicken soup -- rose 34.6 percent last week from the same year-earlier period. Sales of other ingredients, like jujube and chestnuts, also grew 71.3 percent, while ready-made samgyetang packs jumped 26.4 percent from last year.

Stores typically see robust demand for umbrellas when the rainy season starts at around this time of year, while sales of invigorating foods do not usually take off until Chobok. This is one of three dates in summer, along with Jungbok and Malbok, that are traditionally considered the hottest days of the year. They fall between June and July in the lunar calendar and come at 10-day intervals. This year, Chobok falls on July 13.  But as the hot and humid weather continues, consumers have been looking to beat the heat with recipes to stoke their appetites.

4. MARKETING ISSUES

Chinese was the Largest Foreign Tourists to Korea in the First Half [Korean, OSY]

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=102&oid=020&aid=0002447650

Summary: According to the Korea Tourism Agency, Chinese was the largest foreign tourists to Korea in the first half of 2013.  A total of 1.74 million Chinese tourists visited Korea.  Japanese tourists to Korea was second to Chinese at 1.34 million.  American tourists to Korea was 360,000.