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Poor inspections raise health risks
Korean businessmen and quarantine authorities are largely responsible for the poor quality of imported Chinese food reaching Korean homes.... The Food and Drug Administration said 60 percent of the average Korean's diet now comes from overseas.

Lee Young, who led the Food and Drug Administration's inspection team, said, "Despite being operated by Koreans, the sanitary conditions were far lower than those factories in Korea." He described one Korean-owned factory producing gochujang, a Korean-style chili pepper paste, as "extremely filthy." The windows of the factory, located in the city of Tianjin, Shantung province, were wide open and had no screens, so the processing room was full of flies, he said. The facility's metal structures were rusty, and a quality inspection room had nothing more than a few bottles of test fluid, he added.

Poor sanitation in Korean factories in China threatens to seriously harm the health of Koreans.... imported steamed rice from China contained high levels of sulfur dioxide, and all four manufacturers were owned by Korean businessmen. "Korean businessmen are tipping the Chinese off about how to add harmful ingredients to slow down decomposition," an official with the Ministry of Maritime Affairs said. "Koreans are recklessly bringing in poor quality Chinese food products to their homeland." Jeon Eun-suk of South Korea's Embassy in China, who is in charge of food and drug affairs, said, "Without the Chinese government's permission, it is impossible to inspect factories here. It is difficult to assess if the food processing factories are respecting Chinese safety standards."
by Special Reporting Team, JoongAng Daily (August 30, 2005)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200508/29/200508292254135839900092309231.html