Japanese Restaurant Selling Fish Falsely Labeled as Korean Caught
Company Violated Origin Labeling for Over 2 Years
Businesses in Jeju that sold Japanese yellowtail as domestic products were caught in large numbers.
A company that sold Japanese yellowtail but labeled the origin as domestic. [Photo by Jeju Autonomous Police Agency]
On the 7th, the Jeju Autonomous Police Agency announced that the Jeju branch of the National Fishery Products Quality Management Service conducted a joint crackdown from the 13th to the 23rd of last month and caught seven businesses for falsely labeling or failing to label the origin of yellowtail, a representative winter sashimi fish, in violation of the Act on the Labeling of Origin of Agricultural and Fishery Products. All yellowtail imported into Korea is from Japan. The yellowtail imported from Japan is distributed nationwide in a live state, and although Japanese yellowtail is known to be larger and rounder than domestic yellowtail, it is difficult for the general public to distinguish the difference.
Earlier, during a special crackdown on origin labeling violations for the Lunar New Year holiday, the Jeju Autonomous Police Agency caught businesses selling Japanese yellowtail as domestic. To expand the investigation, they requested cooperation from the Jeju branch of the National Fishery Products Quality Management Service and conducted a joint crackdown. Among the businesses caught during the Lunar New Year special crackdown and joint crackdown, five falsely labeled Japanese yellowtail as domestic or labeled it in a way that could cause confusion, and two sold Japanese yellowtail without labeling the origin.
The Jeju Autonomous Police Agency plans to complete the investigation of the five businesses that falsely labeled or labeled in a confusing manner within this week and send the cases to the prosecution. The two businesses that did not label the origin have already been fined by the Jeju branch of the National Fishery Products Quality Management Service.
The total amount of Japanese yellowtail sold at the businesses is estimated to be 4,628 kg. In particular, business A located in Seogwipo City sold 2,921 kg of Japanese yellowtail as domestic over two years and four months from October 2021 to February 2024. Business B in Jeju City falsely labeled and sold 1,428 kg of Japanese yellowtail as domestic from October 2023 to February 2024.
Park Sang-hyun, head of the investigation department of the Jeju Autonomous Police Agency, said, "No violations were found at the import and intermediate distribution stages, but some restaurants, the final consumers, engaged in unethical behavior, causing harm to consumers and other businesses. Since this damages the image of Jeju tourism, related businesses must strictly comply with the obligation to label the origin."
Meanwhile, yellowtail is a marine fish belonging to the jack family, widely distributed along Korea’s east and south coasts. Its back is steel blue, and its belly is silvery white, with an indistinct pale yellow band running from the snout to the tail stalk. It grows to about 1 meter in length, and there is high demand for live or fresh yellowtail for sashimi, which drives up its price. In Japan, yellowtail farming is thriving to meet increasing demand, and it is predicted that yellowtail aquaculture will soon flourish in Korea as well.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
