Investigation on Coordination by Police and KFDA on “Garbage Dumpling” Case

The government will hold site inspections on the manufacturing process of 20 food products most consumed by people, including dumplings, tofu, and bean sprouts, in an attempt to maintain food safety in the summer.

On June 17, such a decision was made at a policy coordination meeting on pending issues held by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Lee Hun-jai. Also subject to inspection are kimbap (Korean rice roll), oemook (fish cake), and powdered red pepper along with lunch box products and various noodles.

Meanwhile, the Office for Government Policy Coordination launched an investigation into whether the police and Korea Food and Drug Administration displayed appropriate coordination in looking into the case of “garbage dumplings.”

Song Yoo-chul, an inspector at the Office for Government Policy Coordination explained, “We will look into whether there were any exaggerations in the police’s announcements on its probe into the garbage dumpling case and whether there were any problems with the KFDA’s list of garbage dumpling manufacturers. We will focus our attention on the adequacy of countermeasures by relevant institutions to strengthen law and order in the public offices.”

Young-Hae Choi yhchoi65@donga.com