Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

488 false-label cases reported for U.S. beef
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/



Availability of price-competitive U.S. beef imports may provide some reprieve on monthly expenses for households, but widening distribution is making consumers more wary of the authenticity of the meat they buy.

The National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service said yesterday that inspections conducted until Nov. 27 on a total of 90,156 restaurants and meat distributors nationwide found that 488 of them deceived consumers with false country of origin labels.

The NAQS said such findings come amid a market still sensitive to marketing U.S. beef, which has been the subject of controversy since President Lee Myung-bak and his government took office in February.

The state-run food-safety promotion agency said the inspections followed the July 8 enforcement of the regulation that has made country of origin labeling mandatory by all restaurant operators and meat distributors. The inspections covered 73,132 restaurants and 17,024 meat distributors and shops.

Of the total uncovered cases, 35 involved U.S. beef falsified as meat from other countries, while 70 to 80 of them involved New Zealand beef falsely labeled as Australian and vice versa.

The agricultural quality management body said 18 cases uncovered were U.S. beef sold as Australian, while 14 were U.S. beef sold as Korean meat. It found three cases of meat shops selling a combination of American and Korean beef as "hanwoo," or premium homegrown beef.

Punitive measures for restaurant owners are less than three years of penal servitude or imprisonment, and a fine of 30 million won. Distributors could face a jail sentence of up to seven years and a fine of less than 100 million won.

The NAQS said the growing number of falsified labeling cases reflects a market still cautious over consumer sentiment concerning the safety of U.S. beef, amid a quickly increasing volume of American beef imports.

But following the resumption of U.S. beef sales by major discount stores last week, sales have been outpacing those of imports from Australia and New Zealand.

As of Sunday afternoon, sales reached 205.4 metric tons just within four days, industry sources said.

They said demand has been intense due to the cheaper prices of American beef. Korea was the world`s third-largest importer of U.S. beef before the country imposed a ban in December 2003 following confirmation of a case of mad cow disease in the United States. The American meat was also the preferred choice among all other meat imports because of its taste.

By Yoo Soh-jung


([email protected])






2008.12.02

[wylies99]

[Soccerstar]

[wylies99]

I KNEW that once US beef was widely available that it would sell very well. Koreans LOVE American beef.

[sojourner1]

[wylies99]

[Arthur Dent]

This article confirms the explanation I was given when I asked why Koreans were so upset (about US beef) when acting Prez. Bush said (*paraphrased) "If they don't like US beef, then they shouldn't buy it."

The lack of trust, or rather the lack of trustworthiness, in their own system and vendors - now evidently validated - removed this choice from them. Thus, a continuance of anger-filled streets....

The article in the Herald a few weeks ago by Kim Seong-kon, "Where are the protesters?" in response to the dearth of public reaction (read, demonstration, or candlelight vigil, or what have you...) to Chinese made goods tainted with melamine - as shrewd and to the point a question as it was - only serves to confuse.

In a society based on distinct roles, China's role is still that of big brother (in the non-Orwellian sense - "Teacher, China is dirty," notwithstanding..) and the US as foreign interloper.

Though we have not heard of Korean beef infected with B.S.E., the following quote from an article in The Hankoreyeh, - full article available here: http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_opinion/285817.html - , suggests that Korean beef may not be any safer.

"Korea has so far refused to engage in internationally recognized mad cow disease testing, saying only that Korea is safe on the domestic front, and as such is among the most �at risk� countries in the world, even by OIE standards."

As in many other areas, Korea suffers from an inability to properly monitor its own food industry system. The fact that ostensibly more advanced countries also have trouble with B.S.E. is perhaps explained by the difficult science with this particular disease. This is referred to in the Hankoryeh article linked to above.

[wylies99]

The protestors, against American beef, were told lies and led down a rosy path by professional protestors with left-wing political motivations.

Koreans never protested against the Chinese because Koreans FEAR the Chinese.

Now, the Korean public is enjoying American beef and the benefits of LMB's wise decision to create closer trading ties with Korea only true ally- The United States.

[Arthur Dent]

Hi Wylies,

Of course I agree that the protesters were manipulated by the left - and even were the left - but other issues were involved as well. Many elements in Korean society smelled blood and jumped on the bandwagon. Most of this was to do with job security as Lee Myung Bak planned to privatize several sectors including health care. I know this because I know several people who work in the health care sector here and they asked me what our experience was with this kind of move.

His efforts to cut government costs were blocked, much as Roh's efforts to change things were blocked by the right. Again this was confirmed by every Korean I spoke to.

Anyway, we're both barking up the same tree there.

I think you did misread my intent in posting however, with reference to this article. I did not state that this was the cause of the protests but was referring to the reaction to Bush's comment with regard to verification of beef products - your motive in posting the article to begin with, I believe.

By the way, thanks for posting it as I do not always have time to read the online version and am currently buying the paper off the stand a couple of times a week. I'm glad I caught this this post as a kind of denouement to the whole affair (at least one would hope) as otherwise I may have missed it.

I'm far from certain that we have a clear understanding of the relationship between Korea and China as it has a very long history - much longer than that of Korea's and the West's. That being said, it is difficult to argue with the idea of a neighboring country being afraid of China, if only because of the size of its population. The best estimate I could find was 1 billion 319 million and change.

However, I think Korea fears China's economy much more than its people or military. No need to elaborate on this I believe.

That Korea now enjoys cheaper beef is certainly true. That this is necessarily a boon to Korea is more in doubt. One would hope it would at least have the effect of making their industries - in this case the cattle farming sector - more competitive. The middleman adds a good deal of the cost passed on to the consumer. Expat teachers will have no trouble grasping that concept if they have dealt with agents for their positions.

The nature of America's relationship with Korea is currently, and has always been, about Korea's security. It is also in America's strategic interests to maintain their bases in order to contain and observe its strongest competitors. Not a revelation of course.

Korea already has an advantageous trading position with the US. If it is not careful - especially given the incoming administration, whose possible victory Myung bak can't have left unconsidered in his rush to sign the free trade agreement - it will lose it.

Anyway, enjoy your steak!

[cheeseface]

This just shows how untrustworthy Koreans can be.

[bassexpander]

[caniff]

[wylies99]

What it shows is the disconnect between what average Koreans want/need (cheaper and better quality products) and what the Korean politicians/protestors are advocating (tariffs and blockages of these products).

[Thunndarr]

I already knew something was up before this story was published. I read a story last week about how Korea was the new number one importer of U.S. beef *before* last Thursday.

How is that possible if only about 5 butcher shops in the country were selling U.S. beef before then? (Yes, I know, restaurants were selling it also...but I never actually *saw* one that advertised having U.S. beef. Clearly many places were re-labeling their beef.)

[mack the knife]

The important lesson here is that America always gets what it wants in the end, and that's the way it should be.

Amen.