Korea to start samgyetang export to China within first half

With 11 domestic facilities having completed registration with the Chinese government, Korea will be able to start exporting samgyetang (chicken soup with ginseng) within the first half of this year.

“Food and Rural Affairs Minister Lee Dong-pil met with his Chinese counterpart in China and confirmed that six slaughterhouses and five meat processing plants have been registered,” the Korean ministry said on Sunday. “Now that the core procedure for Korea’s samgyetang export has been completed, export will start in the near future.”

The six slaughterhouses are Harim, Nonghyup Moguchon, Charmfre, Sajo Fine Korea, DM Food, and Cherrybro. The meat processing plants are Harim, Nonghyup Moguchon, Charmfre, Sajo Fine Korea, and Gyodong (How Chon) Food. The newly registered slaughterhouses are allowed to export chicken meat for samgyetang to be exported to China, and the processing plants can produce finished samgyetang products.

Seoul and Beijing have discussed the export of Korean samgyetang to China through the bilateral summit since October last year, while taking the necessary steps. The remaining steps are development of official quarantine and hygiene certificate forms for export and confirm‎ing of label information to be printed on packages.

한우신기자 hanwshin@donga.com