Today's Date:     Thursday, January 12, 2012

1. BILATERAL/MULTILATERAL ISSUES

Korea-China Free Trade Agreement May Bring 5 Times Larger Loss to Korean Farmers than Korea-US FTA [Korean, OSY]

http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/economy/2012/01/11/0301000000AKR20120111192500002.HTML

Summary: Leading Korean economic institutes have warned that Korea-China Free Trade Agreement, which is currently under discussion between the two countries, would cause a serious threat to local agriculture.  Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) has estimated in its recent report that Korea-China FTA will reduce 2.8 trillion won of income of local farmers, which is 3.4 times larger than the likely loss anticipated from Korea-U.S. FTA.  Korea International Economic Policy institute (KIEP) has estimated in its recent report that Korea-China FTA could reduce the total Korean agricultural production by 20 percent in 2020.

2. MARKETING ISSUES

KFDA Distributes Free Smart Phone App that Tells ‘Obese Food’ [Korean, OSY]

http://news.donga.com/3/all/20120111/43252933/1

Summary: Korea Food & Drug Administration (KFDA) has started to distribute free application software for smart phones (APP) that help consumers avoid ‘obese food’.  Consumers can scan the barcode of the product using their smart phones, and then the software identifies those products of high calories based on the KFDA database.

‘Mango 6’ Café Chain to Purchase 6 Million Sq. Meter Coffee Farm in Hawaii [Korean, OSY]

http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/economy/2012/01/12/0318000000AKR20120112063500003.HTML

Summary: ‘Mango 6’, a café chain that has 40 shops in Korea, announced on January 12 that it plans to purchase 6 million sq. meter of coffee farm in Hawaii this year, which will allow the company to market Hawaiian Kona coffee at lower price to the Korean market.