Kimchi import volume surges, domestic products under disguise 'subject to intensified inspection'

Published Nov 7, 2025

Tridge summary

[Korea Farmers' News Agency, Reporter Seo Sang-hyun] As the import volume of kimchi and napa cabbage continues to increase, the Customs Service has launched a focused inspection on acts of domestic disguise by imported kimchi. The Customs Service (Director Lee Myeong-gu) announced that from November 13 to December 5, during the kimchi preparation season, it will conduct a focused inspection on violations of origin labeling for imported kimchi and kimchi preparation materials. According to the Customs Service's import and export trade statistics, the import volume of kimchi until September 2025 was 249,103 tons, which is an increase of 12.2% compared to 222,057 tons in the same period last year. The import amount of kimchi for the same period was $143,593,300, compared to $131,129,000 in the same period last year.

Original content

As the import volume of kimchi and napa cabbage continues to increase, the Customs Service has launched a focused inspection on the practice of imported kimchi being disguised as domestic products. The Customs Service (led by Director Lee Myeong-gu) announced that it will conduct a focused inspection on violations of origin labeling for imported kimchi and kimchi-making materials from November 13 to December 5, in line with the kimchi-making season. According to the Customs Service's import and export trade statistics, the import volume of kimchi increased by 12.2% to 249,103 tons as of September 2025, compared to 222,057 tons in the same period last year. The import value of kimchi increased by 9.5% to $143,593,300 from $131,129,000 in the same period last year. The import volume of napa cabbage increased by 1141.2% to 16,955 tons as of September 2025, compared to 1,366 tons in the same period last year, and the import value increased by 680.2% to $5,727,000 from $734,000 in the ...

Source: Agrinet