Seoul City Cracks Down on 6 Businesses Selling Hanwoo Beef with False Origin Labels During Lunar New Year Peak

Focused Inspection on 29 Businesses with Previous Origin Violation Records Using Mystery Shopping Technique
Among 6 Detected Businesses, 5 Disguised Imported Products as Hanwoo, 1 Mixed Hanwoo and Non-Hanwoo

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government's Civil Affairs Judicial Police Unit announced on the 2nd that it had identified six businesses that falsely sold non-Hanwoo beef as Hanwoo beef during a special inspection of 34 livestock product retailers and online sales outlets before and after the Lunar New Year holiday.

This inspection focused on post-monitoring and targeted livestock product retailers with prior violation records through offline sampling, alongside online sampling of Hanwoo gift sets with high sales rankings. The collected livestock products were sent for genetic testing to the Seoul Institute of Health and Environment and the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service to verify Hanwoo origin.

As a result of the Hanwoo genetic tests, among the Hanwoo samples collected from 29 businesses with prior origin violation records, five were found to be non-Hanwoo, and one was mixed, resulting in a violation rate of 20.7%. Five online-purchased Hanwoo gift sets were confirmed to be genuine Hanwoo. The six businesses caught in this inspection will be formally charged and investigated.

If caught selling non-Hanwoo beef disguised as Hanwoo, offenders face up to seven years imprisonment or fines up to 100 million KRW under the Act on the Labeling of Origin of Agricultural and Fishery Products. If caught more than twice within two years, a fine up to five times the violation amount may be imposed.

Meanwhile, any citizen who discovers food-related crimes such as origin violations can contribute to public interest by reporting with decisive evidence. Under the Seoul Metropolitan Government Ordinance on Protection and Support for Public Interest Reporting, rewards of up to 200 million KRW may be granted following committee review. Reports can be made via smartphone apps, the Seoul city website, phone calls, and other methods as detailed below.

Kang Ok-hyun, head of the Seoul Civil Affairs Judicial Police Unit, stated, “A notable feature of this inspection is the high re-violation rate of 20% among businesses with prior origin violation records. This not only threatens citizens’ food safety and causes distrust but also harms legitimate livestock product retailers through unfair practices. We will do our utmost to eradicate illegal origin activities through thorough investigations and continuous post-monitoring.”

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