If You Falsify Origin, You Could Face 7 Years in Prison... Ulsan City Launches Joint Crackdown on Origin Labeling During Kimchi Season

50 Companies in Red Pepper Powder, Jeotgal, and Seasoning Food Manufacturing and Processing Industry

Hands preparing kimchi. Ulsan City will conduct a special crackdown on the origin labeling of kimchi ingredients during the kimchi-making season. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] With the arrival of the peak kimchi-making season, a special crackdown on origin labeling will be conducted targeting businesses handling kimchi, red pepper powder, and jeotgal (fermented seafood).

Ulsan City announced on the 14th that from the 15th until December 14th, a one-month inspection will be carried out on the origin labeling of agricultural and marine products used as kimchi seasoning.

The inspection targets about 50 out of 339 food manufacturing and processing businesses and instant sales manufacturing businesses dealing with kimchi, jeotgal, and seasoning products.

The main focus of the crackdown is on falsely labeling imported products as domestic.

It also includes cases where domestic and imported products are mixed and sold disguised as domestic. Selling without origin labeling and the use of spoiled or deteriorated raw food materials are also subject to inspection without exception.

All items with high demand during the kimchi-making season are thus subject to intensive inspection.

Ulsan City plans to enhance effectiveness by conducting joint inspections with origin and food public hygiene investigators.

A special judicial police official expressed hope that “to establish a sound distribution order of agricultural and marine products and ensure citizens’ health safety, sellers should accurately label the origin, and consumers should thoroughly verify the origin.”

Businesses that ‘falsely label’ the origin will face criminal charges followed by prosecution, with penalties of ‘up to 7 years imprisonment or fines up to 100 million won.’

‘Failure to label origin or violation of labeling methods’ will result in fines of up to 10 million won.

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