Today's Date:     Wednesday, February 08, 2012

1. BILATERAL/MULTILATERAL ISSUES

Myung Sook Han of Democratic United Party states that the party will discard the KORUS FTA after the general elections and Presidential election [Korean: BYK]

http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=201202080163g

Summary: The Democratic United Party stated that it was sending letters to President Obama and the speakers for the Congress and Senate asking them to suspend the implementation of the KORUS FTA and conduct a full review of the agreement.  The Party is also known to set up its policy to make a public commitment during the upcoming elections for “Renegotiation of the KORUS FTA and discarding of the problematic provisions.”

Korea-EU trade volume up 3.9% after FTA [English: YJY]
http://www.koreaherald.com/business/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120207001267
Summary: After the Korea-EU FTA took effect in July, the trade volume between the two partners rose 3.9% over six months.  Korea’s trade surplus with the world’s largest economic bloc narrowed to $740 million from $6.92 billion in the same period.  This can be attributed to weak demand for South Korea goods such as ships and IT goods with the European debt crisis looming.  Exports of both products to the EU dropped $5.45 billion from July to December.  With the Korea-EU FTA, tariffs on 96% of EU goods and 99% of Korean goods will be either eliminated or phased out within three years.

2. BIOTECHNOLOGY ISSUES

Controversy over Genetically Modified Food [Korean: CJW]
http://www.nongmin.com/article/ar_detail.htm?ar_id=198619
Summary: In Korea, modified (GM) foods is funded by the Rural Development Administration (RDA).  South Korea has relatively strict regulations regarding GM foods and the importation of GM seeds. Commercial use is not embraced in South Korea and public support for GM food products is extremely weak. For now, this does not appear likely to change in the future mainly due to its expense and national psyche.

3. LIVESTOCK ISSUES

Half of dairy products consumed in Korea are imported goods [Korean: BYK, CJW]

http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=201202072128415&code=920501

Summary: According to MIFAFF, the total consumption of dairy products in 2011 was 3,511,000 MT, out of which 1,889,000 MT (53.8%) was produced in Korea. The market share of domestic dairy products in 2010 was 63.8% but dropped in 2011, due to the shortage of raw milk production in Korea springing from the FMD.

400tons of U.S. beef sold as Australian beef [Korean: CJW]
http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=201202070000005&code=920501
Summary: Since the resumption of U.S. beef exports in July 2008, about 400 tons of American beef were falsely sold as Australian products.  This is because American beef is relatively cheaper than Australian beef and South Korean consumers' trust in U.S. beef has not been restored.

4. MARKETING ISSUES

Korean Restaurant Chains to Expand into Foreign Markets [Korean, OSY]

http://news.donga.com/Economy/Market/3/0108/20120207/43865070/1

Summary: Leading Korean food service companies are reportedly planning to launch stores in foreign markets.  For example, CJ Foodville, the leading restaurant company in Korea has announced that it will open its first VIPS store, a steak house, in Beijing in the first half this year.  SPC, the leading bakery store chain in Korea plans to open four bakery stores in Vietnam this year. 

Provincial Assembly Forces Large-scale Retail Stores to Take Mandatory Day Offs [Korean, OSY]

http://news.donga.com/Economy/Market/3/0108/20120207/43865070/1

Summary: Jeonju city assembly has approved a regulation that mandates large-scale hypermarket stores and grocery supermarkets to take 2 days of closing each month.  The regulation intends to protect small and medium size retailers by limiting the operation of the large retailers.

5. OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

Vegetable supply and consumption both frozen with the cold wave [Korean: YJY]
http://www.nongmin.com/article/ar_detail.htm?ar_id=198578
Summary: The recent cold wave that has been persisting has affected harvests and supply of vegetables. Harvests of vegetables like cucumber, pepper, and spinach have decreased, to name a few. This led to the quantity of such vegetables brought into the wholesale market to drop significantly.  This phenomenon has not been accompanied by the price of vegetables rising as much as the decrease in quantity.  Thus, making the matter worse, farmers who are already suffering high oil price are not reaping much profit.

Influx of cheaper wine increase wine consumption [Korean: CJW]

http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=201202062121255&code=920401
Summary: According to Bokwang Familymart, wine sales by volume have increased by 10% in the second half of last year.  South Korea's total wine imports showed excellent growth of 31% by value in 2009 but has continued a decline since 2010.  South Korean wine market will soon fully return back to explosive sales following the free trade pact between the European Union and Korea.

6. MIFAFF PRESS RELEASES

► Korea shipped US$608 million worth of farm machines and parts in 2011, up 40.3 percent from $433.6 million a year earlier

► MIFAFF developed a diagnosis for West Nile Fever (WNF) and Japanese encephalitis virus

► MIFAFF along with Veterinary Laboratories Agency developed artificial culture of Suspected Pathogens in Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) (“mad cow disease”)

► Korea Seed & Variety Service received International Seed Analysis Certificate from International Seed Testing Association (ISTA)

►Golden Seed project will establish and export high value-added seeds