This file photo taken Oct. 3, 2023, shows foreign tourists looking at seasoned laver products on display at a discount chain store in Seoul. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of dried laver, or “gim” in Korean, and cooked rice reached an all-time high during the first 10 months of this year on their brisk overseas demand along with the popularity of Korean culture and food, the customs agency said Wednesday.
Outbound shipments of gim came to a record high of US$670 million in the January-October period, up 20.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service.
In terms of volume, gim exports rose 17.3 percent on-year to 30,000 tons.
Dried seaweed is usually roasted with sesame oil and fine salt to be served as a side dish in Korean dining. Snacks made of gim have gained popularity among foreigners in recent years.
Gim is the No. 1 export item among fisheries products for South Korea, and the country’s dried seaweed has accounted for around 70 percent of the total global market.
The No. 1 market for the South Korean laver was the United States, which accounted for 21.1 percent of the total export value, followed by Japan with 18.4 percent and China with 13.2 percent.
Exports of cooked rice products, including instant rice and the Korean rolls of gimbap, jumped 29.9 percent on-year during the first 10 months of 2023, also to a record high of $79 million.
In terms of volume, exports surged 28.4 percent on-year to 25,000 tons during the cited period.
The U.S. topped the list of export destinations for the items by taking up 79.2 percent, followed by Australia with 3.8 percent and China with 1.9 percent.
Laver had been sold to 120 nations around the world, and the figure for cooked rice stood at 87, both of which are the largest-ever numbers.
The growth was attributable to the popularity of Korean cultural content and food, and South Korean companies have launched various new products, such as gimbap, also romanized as kimbap, and gim snacks, the agency said.
(Yonhap)
