South Korea: Labor shortage in rural areas leads to an influx of foreign fresh green onions

As tensions in production areas are increasing due to the entry of fresh green onions from China into the Garak market in Seoul, the surge in prices of domestic green onions is being pointed out as one of the reasons behind this. However, shippers argue that behind this surge lies not only supply and demand instability, but also structural problems such as deepening manpower shortage, raising the point that it is urgent to come up with fundamental measures to deal with this. Currently, the price of green onions in Garak Market exceeds 3,000 won per 1 kg, showing unprecedented strength compared to the average price (1,725 won). It was in late October that the price of green onions began to rise to the 3,000 won range and become very strong. Shippers say that the reason for the sharp increase during this period is the decrease in shipments due to poor harvests and the government's strengthened crackdown on illegal foreigners. The view of shippers is that as a result of the ...