South Korean citrus under threat

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the US and South Korea, which comes into effect on 15 March, could sound a death knell for Jeju Island’s iconic mandarin industry.

Professor Hyun Kong Nam of the Jeju National University said he did not believe the island’s centuries-old industry would be able to compete with cheaper fruit from the US.

He told the Jeju Weekly citrus cultivation on the island would go the way of the banana and pineapple industries, which tanked in the 1970s when the country loosened its import regulations under its obligations to the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade – the forerunner to the WTO.

Hyun told the newspaper citrus growers should consider greenhouse research, diversifying into green tea production, or abandoning horticulture altogether.