Today's Date:   Wednesday, December 12, 2012

1. ECONOMIC ISSUES

S. Korea's agricultural exports rise 7.9 pct in Nov. [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2012/12/11/94/0501000000AEN20121211003800320F.HTML

Summary: South Korea's exports of food and agricultural products increased significantly last month on growing shipments to Russia and Asian countries, the government said Tuesday.   The country shipped US$740 million worth of farm products in November, up 7.9 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The November figure also compares with $670 million tallied in the previous month.  Japan continued to be the world's largest importer of South Korean farm products, purchasing $227 million worth of goods from South Korea in November. The figure represents a 4.8 percent increase from the same period in 2011.  Exports to China, on the other hand, dropped 6.7 percent on-year to $125.8 million.

2. MARKETING ISSUES

E Mart to Open Its First Store in Vietnam [Korean, OSY]

http://news.donga.com/3/all/20121211/51514269/1

Summary: E Mart, the leading hypermarket store chain in Korea, announced that it would open its first store in Vietnam in 2013 with a goal to have a total 14 stores in the country by the end of 2017.  Shinsegae Group, mother company of E Mart, signed a business partnership with a leading real estate company in Vietnam on December 10 for the Vietnam business.  E Mart currently has 147 stores in Korea and 16 in China.

U.S. Beef Price Likely to Go Up, USMEF Seoul [Korean, OSY]

http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/economy/2012/12/11/0318000000AKR20121211136700003.HTML

Summary: U.S. Meat Export Federation Seoul office reported in a press interview on December 11 that increase of feed price in the U.S. is likely to increase the export price of American beef to Korea.  USMEF also reported that the market share of U.S. beef recovered back to 20 percent level this year.  Consumers have regained confidence in American beef as indicated by the safety confidence index went up to 38 percent in September this year from 5.3 percent in 2010.