[Exclusive] Government Support for 'Imported' Hanaro Mart PB Products Too... Oceans Ministry Belatedly 'Cancels' It

Imported Dried Pollack Strips Included Despite 70% Domestic Ingredient Requirement
Ministry Immediately Removes Products After Lee Jaegwan's Office Requests Review

The government has canceled support for some products sold at Hanaro Mart that were included in a discount program for domestic seafood. Products qualify for support only if at least 70% of their raw ingredients are domestically sourced, but dried pollack strips made entirely from imported ingredients were included among the discounted items. Critics say the government program to promote consumption of domestic seafood had weak product selection and oversight of eligible items.

According to the office of Lee Jae-gwan of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, Nonghyup Distribution included two products under its Hanaro Mart private brand (PB), Bada Sanghoe - “Spicy and Sweet Dried Pollack Strips” and “Garlic Butter Dried Pollack Strips” - in the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries’ “Korea Seafood Grand Sale” discount program. All of the seafood raw ingredients used in the products were imported. This newspaper previously reported that many Hanaro Mart PB products use imported seafood.

Dried seafood products from Nonghyup's private brand (PB), Bada Sanghoe, on sale at a discount in the seafood section of Nonghyup Hanaro Mart's Changdong branch in Dobong-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 29th.

The “Korea Seafood Grand Sale” is a seafood discount program run by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in partnership with retailers. It was created to ease consumers’ grocery expenses and expand sales channels for domestic seafood. The program offers discounts of up to 50%, combining a 20% government subsidy with retailer discounts of up to 30%. The government subsidy is capped at KRW 10,000 per person. A total of 56 companies are taking part: 24 offline retailers and 32 online retailers selected through an open application process.

Eligible items include domestic and deep-sea-caught seafood. Six popular species - pollock, mackerel, squid, hairtail, yellow croaker and dried anchovies - as well as dried laver are designated products. Processed foods qualify for support only if at least 70% of their raw ingredients are domestically sourced. They must meet the country-of-origin requirements even if they are processed in Korea or carry the PB brand of a domestic retailer.

Nonghyup Distribution’s dried pollack strip products were not eligible for support because they contained no domestically sourced raw ingredients. After this newspaper’s report, the lawmaker’s office requested confirmation, and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries reviewed the products’ origins and eligibility requirements before immediately removing both from the program. The products had not been screened out during the selection process and were removed only after the issue was raised in the National Assembly. Concerns have also been raised that consumers could be misled about the products’ origins because imported goods were included in a discount program for domestic seafood.

“Processed products must contain at least 70% domestic ingredients to qualify,” Lee said, adding, “There are suspicions that designating and selling the company’s own PB products amounts to favoring its own goods.” He continued, “I will closely question how these products were selected during the parliamentary audit,” and stressed that “the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries should also conduct a comprehensive review of whether processed products comply with the reimbursement criteria.”

A Nonghyup Distribution representative said, “Nonghyup Economic Holdings makes decisions about the program and communicates them to us,” adding, “We are currently looking into the situation.”

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