Demand for sea salt in South Korea (ROK) soared after Japan announced it would dump the waste of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant (PLTN) into the sea this summer. South Korean consumers are also buying a lot of seafood for fear that supply will decrease.
South Korean fisheries authorities have vowed to step up monitoring of sea salt farms to check for any increases in radioactivity and to ban seafood from waters near Fukushima. But that hasn’t stopped people from buying more than they need.
“I’m worried that the disposal of waste can not only contaminate (the sea) and cause health problems, but also increase the price of salt and seafood,” said a consumer at a traditional market in Seoul, Park Young-sil, Saturday (10/6/2023).
As Seoul and Tokyo deepen ties to restore ties that have been fractured in recent years. Japan plans to dispose of more than one million tons of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant while maintaining good relations with neighboring countries.
A Research View poll last month found more than 85 percent of South Koreans rejected Japan’s plan. Seven out of 10 people said they would reduce their consumption of seafood if the nuclear waste was still disposed of.
The owner of a salt shop in Seoul, Hyun Yong-gil, said his sales have increased by 40 percent to 50 percent recently. Meanwhile prices continue to rise.
“Recently we have more customers than usual and many of them seem to be worried about the wastewater disposal plan,” he said.
The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of South Korea announced in the first week of June the price of sea salt rose by nearly 27 percent compared to two months ago. However, the ministry said the increase was triggered by bad weather and decreased production, not people’s panic buying.
“With the long rainy season during spring, manufacturers’ concerns are growing,” the ministry said in a statement last Tuesday (6/6/2023).
Sea salt is the most sought-after topic for buying and selling sites managed by the South Korean Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives on Friday (9/6/2023). Posts discussing buying sea salt in bulk and encouraging others to do so have also gone viral on social media.
“We bought three years’ worth of seaweed and anchovies and a big sack of sea salt,” said a viral tweet on Korean Twitter .
The branch of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation known as Nonghyup in Sinan County, which is famous for its sea salt production, said that the volume of buying and ordering sea salt has increased recently.
In the last few days, shares of South Korean carp and seafood factories have also crept up. Shares of a small-medium company that focuses on salt products, Insanaga, rose 28 percent last Wednesday (7/6/2023). Shares of canned tuna company Sajo Seafood also rose more than 6 percent.
This increase in shares began to occur after the Japanese television station NHK reported that the underwater tunnel used to dispose of Fukushima nuclear power plant waste into the sea had been filled with sea water.
Source : internasional.republika.co.id
