Falsified Origins and Unregistered Operations: Seoul City Uncovers Illegal Sales of Seongsu Foods

Crackdown Conducted at 75 Establishments:
Three Businesses Prosecuted for False Labeling and Other Violations

Two Cases Referred to District Offices

54 Cases of Hanwoo and Handon Meat Meet Origin Labeling Requirements

Seoul City has uncovered five businesses that either falsely labeled or failed to indicate the country of origin of Seongsu foods or operated without proper business registration. The city announced that it will proceed with investigations and request the imposition of administrative fines.

According to Seoul City on September 30, the Civil Affairs Police Bureau conducted a special crackdown between September 7 and 18 to prevent illegal distribution and sales of popular Seongsu foods ahead of the Chuseok holiday, a period of high consumer demand.

Scene of origin inspection by the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Civil Affairs Judicial Police Bureau. Seoul Metropolitan Government

The crackdown focused on 38 establishments selling jeon and buchimgae (Korean-style pancakes) and 37 meat product retailers, where demand surges during Chuseok. Twelve investigators from the Food Safety Investigation Team were organized into four task forces, which carried out on-site inspections as well as country of origin verifications.

The inspection led to the detection of violations at a total of five locations: one for false indication of origin, two for failure to indicate the country of origin, and two for unregistered food business operations.

One business was found to have indicated that the beans used for kongjaban (braised beans) were domestically produced, but in fact used beans from China and falsely labeled them as “domestic.” Another two establishments prepared and sold donggeurangttaeng (Korean meat patties) using pork without providing any indication of the country of origin for the pork. In addition, another business operating within a traditional market was discovered selling items such as donggeurangttaeng, myeongtaejeon (Pollock pancakes), and bindaetteok (mung bean pancakes) without filing the food business registration as required under the Food Sanitation Act.

Seoul City plans to investigate and prosecute the establishment that falsely labeled the country of origin, as well as the two businesses that operated without registration, while referring the two businesses that failed to indicate the country of origin to the competent authorities for administrative fines. In addition, Seoul City conducted country of origin inspections on 54 cases involving Korean beef (hanwoo) and Korean pork (handon) at 37 meat retailers to verify labeling compliance and confirmed there were no irregularities.

The Civil Affairs Police Bureau urged consumers to be vigilant about checking country of origin labeling when purchasing food, noting that violations continue to occur. The agency further encouraged citizens to actively report any suspected food-related crimes or violations.

Lee Changseok, Director General of the Civil Affairs Police Bureau of Seoul City, stated, "We will continue to crack down on illegal activities involving foods and livestock products that are in high demand during holidays and other peak seasons to ensure a safe food environment for citizens."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.