FAS/Seoul Monitoring of Media Reporting on Agricultural Issues
Today's Date: March Thursday 17, 2011
For Coverage: March 16 - 17, 2011
1. BILATERAL/MULTILATERAL ISSUES
Korea and Vietnam Hold Third Round of FTA Talks [English, CSY]
http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=113779&code=Ne2&category=2
Full Text: A third round of talks on the Korea-Vietnam free trade agreement kicked off in Seoul on Wednesday. Over the next two days, a joint working group of officials from the two countries will evaluate the impacts of the trade pact between Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and discuss the economic benefits of a trade deal between Korea and Vietnam. The working group established last year is expected to end their joint research this year and discuss further efforts for the ratification of the Korea-Vietnam FTA. Trade officials from the two countries first met in Seoul in June last yearand held a second round of talks in Vietnam in October.
2. ECONOMIC ISSUES
Consumer price surveyors witness inflation’s ravage [English, CSY]
[Catastrophe in Japan] Rising costs are threatening middle-class household budgets
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2933551
Summary: Almost exclusively imported from Japan, wholesale prices of live pollack had jumped from around 30,000 won per box before the Japanese earthquake to 67,800 won at the Noryangjin Wholesale Fisheries Market. Prices are rising all over the world due to a smorgasbord of inflationary factors, but Korea has it worse than most. Among advanced nations, Korea had the highest increase rate of food prices in January. Consumer prices rose here for 11 straight months.
The information in this report was compiled by the Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. The press summaries contained herein do NOT reflect USDA, the U.S. Embassy, or other U.S. government agency official policy or view point. U.S. food exporters can learn more about market opportunities in South Korea by reviewing ATO Seoul’s Exporter Guide and other reports available at www.fas.usda.gov by clicking on “attaché reports”.
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