Seosamsuk: "E-Commerce Companies Ignore Rural Communities, Focus Only on Profiting from Imported Food Distribution"

Sales Reach 34 Trillion Won,
But Contributions to the Rural Community Coexistence Fund Remain at "Zero"

Seosamsuk, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker.

It has been revealed that major domestic e-commerce companies have generated massive sales by distributing imported food products, yet have never once contributed to the Rural Community Coexistence Fund.

On October 15, Seosamsuk, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea (Yeongam, Muan, and Shinan in South Jeolla Province), analyzed data submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Statistics Korea. According to the analysis, the value of online food and beverage transactions in 2024 reached 34 trillion won, more than tripling from 10 trillion won in 2018.

However, 67.5% of food ingredients depend on imports, leading to an estimated 23 trillion won in sales generated from the distribution of imported food products. The domestic food calorie self-sufficiency rate stands at 32.5%, meaning two-thirds of the food consumed by the public relies on overseas sources.

Breaking down food sales by e-commerce company: Coupang recorded 4.6694 trillion won, SSG 2.0048 trillion won, Naver 99.5 billion won, 11st 31.9 billion won, Gmarket 4.5 billion won, and Auction 1.4 billion won. Among these, sales of imported food products are estimated to total approximately 4.6 trillion won.

However, according to the "Status of Rural Community Coexistence Fund Contributions" submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, none of the six major e-commerce companies-Coupang, SSG, Naver, 11st, Gmarket, and Auction-have ever contributed to the fund.

Seosamsuk stated, "It is a serious issue that companies profiting from distributing imported food products, which account for two-thirds of what the public consumes, are shirking their responsibility for coexistence. Contributing to the coexistence fund is the minimum social commitment needed for farmers, fishermen, and industries to survive together under the FTA system."

He further urged, "E-commerce companies that generate sales every year based on imported raw materials must now actively engage in coexistence with farmers and fishermen."

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