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The lobster market in Korea was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In 2021, Korean lobster imports totaled 413.6 metric tons. The United States was the second largest supplier, holding a 7.7 percent market share by volume. Canada is the largest supplier.

An increasing number of Korean customers are making values-based consumption decisions. Korean customers are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products.

The 2021 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook provides a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world.

Korea has a strong food processing industry that manufactures a wide variety of food and beverage products. It also relies heavily on imports to fulfill its food and agricultural needs.

Korea’s overall demand for beef and pork in 2022 will remain steady and could improve in the second half of the year with a reopening of its restaurant sector. However, Covid-related restrictions continue to limit Korea’s Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional businesses where meat is heavily consumed.

FAS/Seoul projects Korea’s corn imports and consumption to increase in 2022/23 to support anticipated growth in animal inventories, following an expected decrease in corn imports in 2021/22 due to the war in Ukraine. Korean wheat consumption in 2022/23 is forecast to decline 15 percent due to reduced feed wheat supply.

This report outlines the specific requirements for food and agricultural product imports into the Republic of South Korea. Updates to the 2022 FAIRS Report are included in Sections V, VI, VII and Appendix II.

This report includes technical information and certificate requirements for food and agricultural product exports to the Republic of South Korea.

Under the 2019 rice Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ), Korea purchased a total of 408,700 metric tons (MT) of rice (milled basis) from three countries: the United States, China, and Vietnam.

Section Updated: Section I, II, III, V, VI, VII, VIII and IX and Appendix I and II.

This report provides minimal updates compared to the previous year’s report.

In MY 2018/19, total production of grain and other crops (grain-equivalent basis for potatoes) dropped 12 percent from the previous marketing year to an estimated 4.9 million metric tons....