South Korea Sends Rice To US In First Export Ever

A shipment of South Korean rice was headed to the United States
on Tuesday, marking the first time that the country has exported its staple
food amid efforts to protect the rice market from foreign imports.
 
  The 2-ton shipment, set to be airlifted later Tuesday, is part of 52.5 tons
of rice that a Korean-American businessman in Los Angeles, Warren Jung, is
importing, said Song Mi-ryong, an official of the North Jeolla provincial
government in the country's southwest.
 
  Koreans living in Los Angeles were expected to be the main consumers of the
Korean rice, Song said.
 
  The KRW136 million (US$146,000) deal marks South Korea's first rice export.
 
  Song said the importer, Jung, agreed to buy an additional 1,050 tons and is
scheduled to sign a US$2.73 million contract Wednesday.
 
  The export to "the U.S., a major rice producing nation, represents evidence
that U.S. consumers recognized the quality of North Jeolla province rice," said
Kim Wan-joo, governor of the province.
 
  South Korea had been short of rice for decades since the 1950-53 war with
North Korea decimated the country. It was only in the 1990s that the country's
rice production began exceeding demand.
 
  However, the country has not exported any rice so far mainly because its rice
is too expensive and because exports would hurt efforts to protect its domestic
market from foreign imports.
 
  Korean rice would be about three or four times more expensive than locally
produced rice in the U.S.
 
  The Agriculture Ministry said it approved the rice export because the amount
was small.
 
  Rice was a delicate issue in free trade negotiations between South Korea and
the U.S. earlier this year, as Seoul tried to ward off U.S. pressure to open
its market for the commodity wider. Rice was ultimately excluded from the trade
deal that now awaits U.S. and South Korean legislative approval.
 
  In 2004, South Korea agreed to gradually open up its rice market in a deal
with the U.S., China, Thailand and six other rice-producing countries.
 
  Before the agreement, South Korea had restricted imports to 4% of the local
rice market. The deal calls for Seoul to gradually double that limit by 2014
and to eventually fully open the market with tariffs still allowed. Imports
currently make up just under 5% of South Korea's rice market, according to the
Agriculture Ministry.