Sejong City Cancels "Deep-Rooted Store" Designation for Country-of-Origin Label Violation

Caught Selling Imported Ingredients Labeled as Domestic
Supply to School Meals and Local Food Markets Halted
Calls for Stricter Selection Criteria Emerge

A business in Sejong that had been selected as a "Deep-Rooted Store" was removed from the list of representative local alleyway businesses after being caught violating country-of-origin labeling regulations.

According to Sejong City on September 14, the city excluded the business from the "Deep-Rooted Store" list after it was found to have sold processed foods labeled as domestic products, despite using imported ingredients.

Since last year, Sejong City has been selecting "Deep-Rooted Stores" to discover and nurture local businesses that have been loved by residents for over 20 years and to utilize them as cultural tourism resources. Three businesses were selected last year, and another three were chosen and promoted this year. However, among those selected this year, one business was caught during a surprise country-of-origin labeling inspection conducted by the Chungnam branch of the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service in August.

Previously, the city had even produced and delivered a "Deep-Rooted Store" plaque to the business. With this incident occurring in less than two weeks, there are now calls to strengthen the selection criteria. Businesses selected as "Deep-Rooted Stores" receive management consulting and preferential loan interest rates.

After the violation was discovered, the city immediately suspended the supply of the business's products to school meal programs and halted their delivery and sales at Singsing Market, a local food market. Most recently, the selection committee officially canceled the business's "Deep-Rooted Store" designation. The business submitted a letter of apology to Sejong City and voluntarily returned the plaque.

A city official stated, "We will establish measures and strengthen education and publicity efforts to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future."

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