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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ate scallops at the prime minister’s residence last October. Facebook shot of the Japanese Prime Minister’s official residence
☞Subscribe to Hankyoreh newsletter H:730. Enter “Hankyoreh h730” in the search bar. “If you find it delicious, contact us at any time and we will take immediate action (to ensure it is imported).” A special summit with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member countries was held on the 17th. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida served scallops as one of the dinner dishes that evening. The purpose was to introduce scallops to the ASEAN leaders in attendance and say, “If it is delicious, please increase imports.” This was not the only promotion of scallops by Prime Minister Kishida. Last October, he performed a “scallop mukbang” at the prime minister’s residence, saying, “The meat is thick” and “Can I have another bite?” With Prime Minister Kishida’s promotion of scallops, the Japanese government introduced the Japanese government on April 25. proposed an export strategy based on the plan to “bring 4.1 billion yen worth of mussels to Korea.” The Korean government refuted this by saying, “It’s nothing more than a Japanese plan,” but it seems it won’t be long before Japanese scallops start flooding into the Korean market. The reason why the Japanese government is so focused on scallops is because it is the largest seafood export, with an annual export value of over 800 billion won. According to the “Fishery Products Supply and Demand Trends in 2022” released by the Japanese government, the annual export value of scallops last year was 91.1 billion yen (826.6 billion won), followed by yellowtail (36.3 billion yen). ) and pearls (23.8 billion). yen), tuna (18.8 billion yen) and sea cucumber (18.4 billion won). billion yen), etc. In September this year, Japan’s total export volume of agricultural, fishery and food products exceeded 1 trillion yen (KRW 9.8 trillion), a month earlier than last year, but the export channels for scallops, an important export product, are since then clogged September. This is because since the end of August, China, Russia, Hong Kong, etc. have taken measures to gradually temporarily ban the import of Japanese marine products to combat the discharge of contaminated water from the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant by the Japanese government to protest power plant into the sea. Among these, China’s blockade of scallop imports was a fatal blow. Last year, China accounted for more than half of Japan’s scallop exports (51.3%), followed by Taiwan (12.3%), the United States (8.6%) and Korea (8.3%). When Japan exports scallops in the shell, China processes them and sells them to other countries. This important distribution channel is blocked. According to the “Export status of agricultural and fisheries products and revised expansion implementation strategy” released by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on the 25th, China’s import of Japanese scallops in October, the latest statistics, is “0 yen.” Compared to the same period last year, it fell by a whopping 5.9 billion yen. In a report, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said: “The pace of exports is decreasing due to the impact of stricter import regulations due to the discharge of treated water (polluted water) into the oceans.” “To achieve the target.” ” We will demand immediate abolition at government level,” he said. It was at this point that Japan’s “scallop push strategy” emerged. The report classified nine “destination countries for scallop sales” as a way to diversify export countries. China (27 billion yen), the USA (13 billion yen), Taiwan (7 billion yen) and Korea are also classified as sales destinations worth 4.1 billion yen. In particular, he added that in Korea “there is a great demand for raw scallops, so exports are expected to increase.” On this issue, Park Gu-yeon, first deputy director of the Government Policy Coordination Office, said on the 26th: “It is just a Japanese plan.” He added: “The government has banned the import of all seafood from the eight prefectures. “Even in the vicinity of Fukushima and in other regions, a check for radioactivity is required for every import.” “If even trace amounts are detected, an additional nuclide certificate is required, which effectively bans the import,” he explained. However, the main growing area for Japanese scallops is Hokkaido, which is not among the eight prefectures where Korea bans imports of seafood. If domestic importers try to import scallops by lowering the price, there is no way to stop them. Nikkei Business said: “Scallops, which have been the ‘prince of food exports’ in Japan, are in crisis due to China’s import ban. They cannot find distribution channels abroad and fear that if this continues, the balance between them will be lost. “Supply and demand will be further disrupted next year.” Reporter Hong Seok-jae [email protected]
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