1. BILATERAL/MULTILATERAL ISSUES

S. Korea to boost economic cooperation with Latin America [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/04/13/96/0502000000AEN20110413009200320F.HTML

Summary: South Korea will intensify cooperation with Latin American countries in securing energy, natural resources and other key commodities vital for economic growth, the finance ministry said Wednesday.    Cooperation, which currently focuses on energy and commodity fields, will also be expanded to such areas as commerce, forest resources and other key development projects, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.   In order to secure natural resources and energy, the government will push for tie-ups with Peru, Chile and Brazil, the ministry said.  Seoul will also reach out to Chile and Argentina to cooperate in developing natural resources in order to secure stable supply lines for such materials as copper and uranium, it added.

Food security will also be a major area where South Korea will work together with those Latin American countries. To that end, the ministry said it plans to provide support for local agricultural firms to advance into the area so that they can secure production bases for grains and other farm produce.

2. MARKETING ISSUES

Just Take a Photo of the Label and Your Smart Phone will Tell You Details of the Wine [Korean, OSY]

http://economy.donga.com/ITReview/3/0112/20110413/36367013/3

Summary: Naver.com, a leading Internet portal service in Korea, launched a new search engine on April 12 that helps consumers select wines better.  By taking a photo of the label on the bottle by smart phone, consumers can obtain detailed information about the wine put together by the portal service.  The information provided includes history, taste profile, and recommended food matching of the wine.

3. OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

Seoul to demand Tokyo's safety guarantee for food imports [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/04/14/0503000000AEN20110414003100320.HTML

Summary: South Korea will call for the Japanese government to provide a safety certificate for food products manufactured from 13 regions located near the crippled nuclear complex, Seoul's food safety regulator said Thursday.  The Korea Food and Drug Administration said it will make the request in order to ensure that food products shipped from those regions including Tokyo and its surrounding areas do not contain radiation exceeding permitted levels.

Gov't to launch task force to monitor radiation in seawater [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2011/04/13/0/0301000000AEN20110413010000315F.HTML

Summary: The government on Wednesday decided to form a new task force of related agencies to monitor possible contamination of its seawater following Japan's massive discharge of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, the prime minister's office said.   At an inter-agency meeting, the government also decided to put all farm products originating from Japan under scrutiny and begin to test for radiation in South Korean farm products on a regular basis, the office said.  In addition, Seoul will establish separate safety standards for milk products and other foods, usually consumed by infants as even low-level radiation can be fatal to the group, the office told reporters after the meeting convened to discuss countermeasures for the Japanese nuclear crisis.

Quarantine checks on farm imports rise 10 pct in Q1 [English, CSY]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/04/12/64/0501000000AEN20110412002800320F.HTML

Summary: South Korea's quarantine inspections of imported farm produce rose 10 percent on-year in the first quarter mainly due to greater local demand for vegetables and fruits, the government said Tuesday.    The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said import inspections were carried out on 43,793 shipments in the January-March period, compared to 39,746 during the same period a year earlier.