Kim Ikang, Mayor of Gwangju Seo-gu, Launches All-Out Effort to Protect Traditional Market Food Culture

Visiting Yangdong Market: Challenges and Atmosphere

Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kim Ikang) is making an all-out effort to protect safe food for traditional markets and residents who are struggling due to the aftermath of the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima, Japan.

According to Seo-gu on the 6th, Mayor Kim Ikang visited Yangdong Traditional Market in the afternoon to check the seafood sales situation and listen to the difficulties of merchants.

He visited Yangdong Seafood Market and Dried Seafood Market to encourage merchants and, together with health center officials, conducted ▲requests for distribution seafood sample inspections ▲checks on seafood origin labeling to provide safe food to citizens.

He also held a meeting for safe food distribution and market revitalization attended by the presidents of the merchants' associations of Yangdong Market, Yangdong Seafood Market, Yangdong Dried Seafood Market, and Yangdong Gyeongyeollo Market.

The merchants appealed, "Recently, as anxiety about seafood consumption has increased, market merchants are taking a direct hit," and said, "Please make specific plans and continuous efforts so that Seo-gu can guarantee safe food and provide trust that the food sold at Yangdong Traditional Market is safe to eat."

In response, Mayor Kim said, "Meeting merchants full of worries ahead of the Chuseok holiday season makes my heart heavy," and promised, "We will take the lead in protecting safe and healthy food starting from our Seo-gu."

Earlier, Seo-gu conducted radiation tests on five types of items (domestic cutlassfish, clams, squid, abalone, shrimp) distributed in Yangdong Market on the 28th of last month, and the results showed no abnormal substances at all.

Meanwhile, Seo-gu plans to further strengthen various inspection and testing activities to provide safe seafood in the future.

They will increase the collection inspection of distributed seafood to measure radiation levels in organisms from once per quarter to twice per month, strengthen management and supervision of seafood origin labeling compliance, and support portable radiation measuring devices to build consumer trust.

Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Shin Dongho yjm3070@asiae.co.kr

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