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Korea - Republic Of > East Asia and the Pacific + South Korea

In September 2024, a National Assembly member submitted a draft revision of the Act on Transboundary Movements of Living Modified Organisms, commonly referred to as the LMO Act.

Korea’s wine import sector has been undergoing a stabilizing phase since the explosive growth around 2021. In 2023, wine imports reached 506 million USD, down 12.9 percent from the previous year, totaling 56.5 million kg, a decrease of 20.4 percent compared to 2022.

Korea’s fresh pear production is projected to rise by 10.2 percent to 202,000 metric tons (MT) in marketing year (MY) 2024/25, helped by favorable weather and lower incidences of diseases and pests compared to the previous year.

Market share of U.S. corn in South Korea is expected to remain strong in MY 2024/25 after rebounding to 20 percent in MY 2023/24. Domestic rice production continues its slow decline as the government incentivizes farmers to switch to planting alternate crops.

Since the previous report, Taiwan has granted new approvals for imports of genetically engineered (GE) products for processing, food, and feed use. Taiwan has never permitted domestic production of GE crops or animals. In 2023, Taiwan imported close to $930 million of U.S. crops including soybeans, corn, and cotton, accounting for 25 percent of total U.S. agricultural exports to the island.

Korean seafood imports totaled $5.93 billion in 2023, down 8.3 percent from 2022. Korean 2023 seafood imports from the United States totaled $203 million, a decrease of 11.4 percent year-to-year.

Taiwan imports over 135,000 MT apples annually with domestic supply less than one percent. Post expects that MY 2024/2025 Taiwan apple imports will return to 145,000 MT with domestic supply stable at 1250 MT.

FAS/Seoul forecasts Korea’s 2025 milk production to decrease to 1.92 million tons. Korean milk production continues to decline in line with industry contraction and demographic-driven consumption declines.

Starting in 2025, Taiwan will eliminate tariffs on liquid milk imports from New Zealand. Taiwan dairy farmers are worried about the future, as the primary dairy product in Taiwan is fresh milk, with only a small portion used for other dairy beverages or products.

Korea was the 5th largest country importer of the U.S. agricultural and related products in 2023. The United States is the leading supplier of imported consumer-oriented agricultural products for Korean retail industry, shipping $4.9 billion in 2023.

Retail food channels in Taiwan include convenience stores, supermarkets, and hypermarkets, which generated more than $25 billion in sales in 2023. The United States remains the leading supplier of consumer-oriented food and agricultural products to Taiwan.