Today's Date:   Tuesday,  April 09, 2013

1. MARKETING ISSUES

Seoul City Government Withdraws a Plan to Limit Products Allowed to be Sold in Large-scale Retail Stores [Korean, OSY]

http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2013040883071

Summary: Seoul City Government announced on April 8 that it did not intend to develop a list of products that would not be allowed to be sold in large-scale retail stores.  The city government announced earlier in March that it would propose a regulation to ban sales of 51 products, mostly agricultural products including tofu, rice wine, cabbage, and fresh fish, in large-scale retail stores such as hypermarkets and SSM grocery stores under the objective of protecting small-scale retailers.  However, farmers and suppliers of the 51 products as well as general consumers had criticized the city government for proposing a policy that was not market-friendly.

2. OTHER MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

New Avian Influenza Likely to Spread to Northern China … Worries Grow … Three Times Higher Death Rate than SARS [Korean, OSY]

http://news.donga.com/3/all/20130408/54269163/1

Summary: New Avian Influenza (AI) in China is reportedly spreading toward Northern area, including Beijing.  Total number of people infected with the virus has increased to 20 as of April 7, among them 6 already died, 30 percent of death rate.  Health experts have suggested that the virus would spread to Northern areas as the temperature rises in the coming weeks.  Press has pointed out that the death rate of new AI virus is three times higher than SARS outbreaks 10 years ago.