Imported Rice Arrives Amid Protests

A ship unloaded American “Calrose” cooking rice at the port of Busan yesterday, the first-ever cooking rice imports to Korea

Imported cooking rice will go on sale to consumers by April 10 at the earliest. Farmers have staged violent demonstrations in protest of the rice imports.

About 1,372 tons of Calrose rice from California arrived by freighter at around 6:30 a.m. yesterday at the Gamman pier in the southern Gamman neighborhood of Busan.

Packaged in 10kg and 20kg sacks in 81 containers, the rice will undergo inspection and customs clearance checks around March 27, and will then be moved to the warehouse of the Korea Agricultural Trade Information in Icheon, Gyeonggi. From there, it will be sold to distribution companies on April 5.

Over 100 farmers from Busan, North and South Gyeongsang provinces began to gather at the entrance to the Gamman pier at 1:00 a.m. on March 23, and although they protested all night, when news of the arrival of the freighter arrived, they broke down the barricade of the main gate to the pier, tried to enter the pier, and brawled with police. By afternoon, the protesters voluntarily dispersed.

They announced, however, that they would continue to try to hinder the distribution of imported American rice and fight the Korea-America Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

A second shipment of (41 containers) of Calrose rice is expected to arrive at Busan soon.

Dong-Bin Seok mobidic@donga.com