NS Home Shopping Signs Business Agreement with Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to Eradicate Distribution of Young Squid

On the 12th, NS Home Shopping signed a win-win cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries at the Government Sejong Complex to eradicate the distribution of juvenile squid. (From left) Kim Jae-cheol, Director of Fisheries Policy at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and Lee Won-joo, Director of External Cooperation at NS Home Shopping (Executive Director), are taking a photo after the agreement ceremony. Photo by NS Home Shopping.

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] NS Home Shopping announced on the 13th that it signed a win-win cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on the 12th at the Government Sejong Complex to eradicate the distribution of juvenile squid.

At the signing ceremony, Wonju Lee, Director of External Cooperation at NS Home Shopping (Executive Director), Jaecheol Kim, Fisheries Policy Officer of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Taehoon Lim, Director of Distribution Policy, and other officials from both sides attended. This agreement was promoted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and NS Home Shopping to address the problem of indiscriminate consumption of juvenile fish caused by the distribution and sale of juvenile squid under nicknames such as 'Bullet, One-bite, Mini Squid.'

Following this agreement, NS Home Shopping will strengthen mutual ties and establish a cooperative system with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to implement 'voluntary distribution guidelines to eradicate juvenile squid distribution and promotion (blocking searches for nicknames such as Bullet, One-bite, Mini Squid on NS Home Shopping’s online mall, providing fisheries resource protection information, etc.)' and will continuously seek cooperative measures.

The meeting held during the agreement signing focused on topics such as ▲establishing a cooperative system to eradicate juvenile squid online distribution ▲ensuring the safety of seafood online distribution in preparation for the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant ▲developing smart fresh distribution technologies for non-face-to-face seafood distribution.

At the meeting, NS Home Shopping, as the only company in the home shopping industry operating a Food Safety Research Institute, agreed to further review measures to contribute to healthy seafood distribution, including conducting genetic testing of seafood applying its expertise. They shared achievements from exchanges with local governments such as Wando County Office regarding eco-friendly packaging for seafood and stated their intention to continue efforts to discover packaging containers for fresh seafood distribution as part of eco-friendly ESG (Environmental, Social Governance) management. To enhance effectiveness, they also conveyed plans to continue collaboration with partners and local governments.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced the 'Plan to Eradicate the Production and Distribution of Live Squid' in March, which includes strengthening resource management policies at the distribution and consumption stages. Prior to the agreement, on the 9th of last month, NS Home Shopping participated in the 'Public-Private Communication Workshop for Fisheries Resource Protection' hosted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Consumer Federation, and the Korea Fisheries Resources Agency, where it conducted training on 'ethical seafood distribution' for related partners and employees.

Wonju Lee, Director of External Cooperation at NS Home Shopping, said, "We signed this agreement with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to take a leading role in eradicating the distribution of juvenile squid for sustainable fisheries resource protection." He added, "NS Home Shopping will continue to seek effective measures to protect fisheries resources, cooperate with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and practice eco-friendly ESG management."