South Korea Legumes insights

(Budget=Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Ju-hyung = The police, who have been investigating the allegations of violations of the Agricultural Land Act and others against the food service company The Bon Korea led by CEO Baek Jong-won, have handed the case over to the prosecution. The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Division of the Chungnam Provincial Police Agency announced on the 28th that the The Bon Korea corporation and related individuals from the Baekseok factory have been indicted without detention for violations of the Agricultural Land Act and the Livestock Products Hygiene Management Act. The Bon Korea is accused of producing and selling doenjang made from foreign raw materials, such as Chinese meju and soybeans from the U.S., Canada, and Australia, at the Baekseok factory established in the agricultural promotion area of Ogae-myeon, Yesan County, Chungnam, from September 2016 to March of the previous year. The company also registered two greenhouses (totaling 440 square meters) near the Baekseok factory as agricultural fixed greenhouses but actually used them as warehouses for storing doenjang raw materials, violating the Agricultural Land Act. The scale of illegal profits has not been confirmed. Under the current Agricultural Land Act, food must be produced using domestic agricultural and marine products as raw materials in facilities within agricultural promotion areas. In response to the administrative disposition by Yesan County, the company demolished the greenhouses in December of the previous year, and ceased operations at the Baekseok factory in June when the police investigation began. Additionally, there are allegations that at a barbecue festival held in Hongseong County, Chungnam, in November 2023, pork was transported in a regular truck exposed to room temperature, violating the Livestock Products Hygiene Management Act. However, the police decided not to indict The Bon Korea for the allegations that it used a pesticide sprayer to apply sauce to meat and used a non-inspected metal barbecue grill at a festival venue in Chungnam, violating the Food Sanitation Act. Regarding the allegation that the cafeteria of a high school under Yedeok Academy, where Baek is a director, violated the Mountain Management Act by being built on a forest area, the case was closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for illegal occupation (5 years). A police official stated, "Although selling cooking utensils without permission under the Food Sanitation Act is illegal, there is no applicable law for simple cooking using them. It was confirmed that The Bon Korea did not sell the pesticide sprayer and barbecue grill as cooking utensils, so they are not subject to punishment."

(Iksan=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Jinbang = The Korea Food Industry Cluster Promotion Agency announced on the 25th that it will actively promote the creation of a plant-based alternative food ecosystem centered around the Food Tech Research Support Center, based on domestic soybeans. Scheduled to be completed in 2026, the Food Tech Research Support Center in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, will be the nation's first specialized support facility in the field of plant-based alternative foods, supporting farms and companies based on facilities for separating proteins and tissue formation through extrusion molding using domestic soybeans. The center plans to convert 5% of the soybean cultivation area in North Jeolla Province to dedicated varieties for alternative foods, strengthening the stable supply and demand base for domestic raw materials. Additionally, it plans to lead industry innovation through the operation of a professional training program, sharing food tech technology and linking with agri-food venture funds, and building a network of domestic and international academic, industrial, and research experts. Kim Deok-ho, Director of the Food Promotion Institute, said, "The Food Tech Research Support Center will become the core hub of the high-value-added alternative food industry utilizing domestic soybeans," and "We will create a symbiotic ecosystem where companies and regions grow together."

[Korea Agricultural and Fishery Newspaper, Reporter Kim Young-min] Syngenta Korea has registered 'Mirae-bit' (product name: Pidiflumethopen water-dispersible liquid) as the country's first fungicide for soybean wilt disease and mummy disease. Wilt disease is a soil-borne pathogenic disease where infected plants show symptoms of rotting vascular tissue in the stem and stunted growth. Mummy disease is transmitted from infected plant tissue or seeds where mycelium overwinters, and can quickly invade in humid environments, making control difficult and having strong pathogen survival capabilities. These wilt and mummy diseases occur in various crops but can particularly cause simultaneous reduction in yield and quality when occurring in soybean cultivation