1. BILATERAL/MULTILATERAL ISSUES

KORUS FTA to be implemented by no later than February 2012 [Korean: BYK]

http://news.hankooki.com/lpage/economy/201112/h2011121502310121500.htm

Summary: Trade Minister Jong Hoon Kim stated that it probably will be difficult to implement the KORUS FTA by January 1, 2012 due to the time it is taking to get the relevant regulations translated and reviewed but that it would be implemented before the end of February at the latest.

2. LIVESTOCK ISSUES

Australian Minister of Agriculture visits Emart and promotes Australian beef [Korean: BYK]

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=101&oid=001&aid=0005418836

Summary: The Australian Minister of Agriculture that is currently visiting Korea visited Emart, the largest hypermarket chain store in Korea, and participated in the Australian beef promotion activity.

Korean scientists develop method for checking COO in processed meat products [Korean: BYK]

http://www.bbsi.co.kr/news/news_view.asp?nIdx=537822

Summary: A group of scientists working at the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service developed a method to verify the country-of-origin for processed meat products using DNA technology.

3. MARKETING ISSUES

CJ Launches ‘Tagatose’, Functional Sugar that Helps Restrict High Blood Sugar at 92% of Sweetness of Table Sugar, for the First Time in the World [Korean, OSY]

http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2011121461301&sid=0104&nid=004&ltype=1

Summary: CJ Cheiljedang, a leading food processor in Korea, announced on Dec. 14 that it had launched Tagatose to the market for the first time in the world.  According to CJ, Tagatose is a natural sugar found in various sources including milk, cheese, and apple.  The Glucose Index of Tagatose is 3, which is only 5% of regular table sugar, and it speeds up the conversion of glucose to glycogen in body, which helps restrict high blood sugar.  CJ added that it planned to achieve $1 billion of global sales from new functional sugar business, including Tagatose, by 2015.

Local Horse Industry Targets to Grow 100,000 Horses in Five Years, T.P. Jang, New Head of Korea Race Association [Korean, OSY]

http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2011121463571&sid=0107&nid=007&ltype=1

Summary: Tae-Pyung Jang, the new head of Korea Race Association (KRA), said in a press interview on Dec. 14 that KRA will target to help local horse industry to grow 100,000 horses withing the next five years.  He said that this means that the industry will increase five times from current size (total 28,000 horses).  Expansion of the industry needs additional businesses, including sports horse riding and horse meat business, he added.  Mr. Jang served many important positions in the Korean government before joining KRA, including the Minister of Agriculture, Fishery, and Food.

4. OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

Smart Phone Grows Watermelon? … Mobile Service Helps Farmers Automate Green House Management [Korean, OSY]

http://news.donga.com/3/all/20111214/42617965/1

Survey Confirms that Koreans Drink Heavily … One out of Four Adult Males Experience Over Two Times of Heavy Drinking Per Week [Korean, OSY]

http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2011121461491&sid=010405&nid=000&ltype=1

Summary: KFDA’s recent survey revealed that Koreans were drinking heavily.  Among the 1,000 adults interviewed, 626 said that they consumed alcohol beverage during the week before the interview.  412 of them said that they drank more than WHO’s health recommendation (60g of alcohol for male and 40g of alcohol for female per each drinking occasion).  Only 7 of them said they did not drink any alcohol beverage during the year before the interview.  17.3 percent of the drinkers said that they regularly drank over the WHO limit more than two times a week.  In particular, 26.7 percent of the male drinkers were drinking over the WHO limit a week.  Most frequently consumed alcohol beverage when heavy drinking was Soju (66.3%), followed by Beer (20.8%), wine (2.9%), and whiskey (1.4%).

5. MIFAFF PRESS RELEASES

► MIFAFF selects 30 projects for providing support for fostering industries in rural area in 2013.

► Korea to upgrade the quality of oysters and increase exports