Today's Date:     Monday, February 06, 2012

1. BILATERAL/MULTILATERAL ISSUES

President Lee agrees with his Turkish counterpart to establish FTA between the 2 countries [Korean: BYK]

http://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0101_201202060945235816

Summary: President MB Lee that is visiting Turkey met with the Turkish Prime Minister and agreed to conclude a FTA between the 2 nations during the first half of 2012.

Trade Minister Tae ho Park states that KORUS FTA will be implemented by end of February [Korean: BYK]

http://www.nocutnews.co.kr/Show.asp?IDX=2050661

Summary: In an interview with a media, the Trade Minister stated that most of the review between the two nations is in the process of getting wrapped up and that he expected that it would be finished by end of February.  As for the actual implementation date, he declined to provide a fixed date but stated that MOFAT would inform the public beforehand.

DUP to ask Obama to halt Korea FTA [English: YJY]

http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120203000817

Summary: The chief of the main opposition Democratic United Party, Han said she will send a letter to Obama to delay FTA implementation.  Han said DUP has been asking the government to stop implementation of FTA but has not received any reply.  Han said DUP is planning to write directly to the president and congressman to reconsider the deal.

Korea, Turkey agree to work for early conclusion of FTA [English: YJY]
http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120205000393
Summary: Korea and Turkey agreed to cooperate on concluding FTA possibly within the first half of this year and continue stalled negotiations on the Eurasian nation’s atomic power plant construction project.  The two countries have held three rounds of negotiations so far since April of 2010.  Currently, the two countries are in agreement on the goods sector but differ in the services and investment sectors.  Once Korea-Turkey FTA is concluded, South Korean products will not only flow into Turkey, but also other European regions as Turkey has a tariff alliance with the EU.  President Lee further called for support of Korean firms trying to expand investment in Turkey.

Trade Minister Tae ho Park states that KORUS FTA will be implemented by end of February [Korean: BYK]
http://www.nocutnews.co.kr/Show.asp?IDX=2050661
Summary: In an interview with a media, the Trade Minister stated that most of the review between the two nations is in the process of getting wrapped up and that he expected that it would be finished by end of February.  As for the actual implementation date, he declined to provide a fixed date but stated that MOFAT would inform the public beforehand.

Russia, Vietnam, and Thailand: promising markets for Korean agricultural exports [Korean: YJY]
http://www.nongmin.com/article/ar_detail.htm?ar_id=198473

Summary: Last year, 7.7 billion worth of Korean agricultural exports were shared by certain countries like Japan (31.7%), China (16.2%), and the United States (8%).  These three countries received more than half of Korea’s total agricultural exports.  According to a research conducted by Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation (aT), Russia, India, Vietnam, Australia, Thailand, and Indonesia are now emerging as the most promising markets for Korea’s agricultural and food exports, especially processed food.

Necessity of strategic items for agricultural exports [Korean: YJY]

http://www.nongmin.com/article/ar_print.htm?ar_id=198479

Summary: With the KORUS FTA, tariffs for products like pear, citrus tea, Kimchi, and rose will be eliminated, improving their price competitiveness.  More focus will be paid to exports of tomato, mini flower pot, and tangerine, as their exports have come to be allowed recently.  In the case of Europe, tariffs of Kimchi, strawberry, mushroom, and radish will be eliminated whereas tariff rates of these products used to be around 10 to 20%.  Bearing in mind these facts, local consumers’ tastes, consumption pattern, and preference should be analyzed for marketing and product differentiation.  Products of Korea’s boast good quality but as they are expensive, they should be commercialized within the range of tolerable prices.

Income of farmers and subsidies [Korean: YJY]

http://www.nongmin.com/article/ar_print.htm?ar_id=198480

Summary: The problem of farmers’ income in Korea is that there is a widening gap between the urban and the rural as well as within rural among different classes.  Once KORUS FTA comes into effect following Korea-EU FTA, income of lower classes should be brought up to narrow the urban-rural and rural-rural gaps.  In order to improve the value of agricultural goods, quality should be differentiated through organic production and regional brand-making.

2. LIVESTOCK ISSUES

Live Holstein Cattle Importer Runs Away with FMD Compensation [Korean: BYK]

http://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0103_201202060529047567

Summary: An importer ran away with money that was given to the farmers as a compensation for the cattle that had been culled during the FMD outbreak.  The importer gathered money from 55 farmers (2.4 billion won) in order to import Holstein cows from Australia.  However, the Australian government refused to allow cattle exports on the basis that the Korean domestic dairy farms were inferior in its environment and that farmers were abusing their cattle.  In the meantime, the importer fled with the 2.4 billion won and the where about of the importer is not known.

Subsidy limited for farms that mismanage livestock waste [Korean: CJW]

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=102&oid=001&aid=0005497936

Summary: Ministry of Environment announced to limit subsidy to farms that mismanage livestock waste.  “Recent industrialized farms have caused highly concentrated water pollution” an official said.  “We plan to set up facilities for charges and control.”

Live Holstein Cattle Importer Runs Away with FMD Compensation [Korean: BYK]
http://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0103_201202060529047567
Summary: An importer ran away with money that was given to the farmers as a compensation for the cattle that had been culled during the FMD outbreak.  The importer gathered money from 55 farmers (2.4 billion won) in order to import Holstein cows from Australia.  However, the Australian government refused to allow cattle exports on the basis that the Korean domestic dairy farms were inferior in its environment and that farmers were abusing their cattle.  In the meantime, the importer fled with the 2.4 billion won and the where about of the importer is not known.

Cows killed by soaring animal feed prices [Korean: CJW]

http://www.jemin.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=279728

Summary: A hike in animal feed prices and cattle breeding farms in financial difficulties are limiting the provision of cattle feeds and consequently causing cows to die of starvation.  A cattle breeder in Jeju buried a cow that starved to death earlier this week as he could no longer afford to feed the cow.  “Organic assorted feed should be provided but as management gets worse, cows have been fed hay instead,” said Jeju official.  “With cattle sold at much lower rates from the farms now, we can only reduce the amount of their feed.”  Also, “government policy is disregarding the reality, but solely focused on initiatives to strengthen the competitiveness of Korea's agricultural
sector.”

3. OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

[2012 KREI Agricultural Outlook] Climate change and the task in the agricultural sector [Korean: YJY]

http://www.nongmin.com/article/ar_print.htm?ar_id=198482

Summary: Global grain prices are fluctuating with climate change causing unforeseen weather phenomena.  Korea is also experiencing serious imbalance in demand and supply of vegetables, driving the prices up continuously.  This unstable price of agricultural goods is expected to continue.  In the short-term, a system should be set up to control information on weather, pests, and natural disasters as a whole.  In the long-term, research facilities should be established to systematically analyze influence of climate change.

Top smuggled items in 6 years [Korean: CJW]

http://www.nongmin.com/article/ar_print.htm?ar_id=198471

Summary: According to Korea Customs Service, red chili peppers, ginseng, tobacco, and deer antler are top 10 smuggled items between years 2006 and 2011.  Several agricultural officials said “there is higher possibility for smuggling of illegal agricultural
products and thus government control is necessary.”

4. MIFAFF PRESS RELEASES