(Daejeon=Yonhap News) Reporter Park Joo-young = The Korea Forest Service announced on the 9th that it held a joint marketing event with major export companies of key items such as persimmons, jujubes, and shiitake mushrooms in Tokyo, Japan, from the 3rd to the 7th, to promote the excellence of Korean forest products and boost exports.
Japan is one of the top five export countries for Korean forest products, accounting for 50% of the total persimmon exports.
Recently, there has been an increase in demand not only for raw products such as chestnuts and persimmons but also for processed forest products like jujube chips and shiitake mushroom snacks.
Twelve forest product export companies, including Nature Farm, Boeun Samga Jujube, and Ewangsangsa Co., Ltd., participated in the event, achieving a total of 130,000 dollars in export contracts and memorandums of understanding (MOU).
Processed food items such as jujube caramel and jujube tea were also contracted for export, amounting to 40,000 dollars.
Nam Song-hee, International Forestry Cooperation Officer of the Korea Forest Service, said, "The global K-Food craze and the logistical competitiveness due to geographical proximity with Japan are becoming factors of opportunity in the Japanese market," and added, "We will continue to develop various marketing strategies and customized export policies to expand forest product exports."