In this photo taken June 13, 2025, Prime Minister nominee Kim Min-seok meets with officials from food and restaurant industry associations at a government building in Seoul to discuss recent price hikes and possible countermeasures. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Officials from South Korea’s food and restaurant industry associations called on the government Friday to take steps to reduce import costs of key materials and support public delivery platforms.
In a meeting with Prime Minister nominee Kim Min-seok, the officials said recent price increases in the food sector were inevitable due to a weakening won and other cost pressures that followed the Dec. 3 declaration of martial law.
The participating associations included the Korea Food Industry Association (KFIA), the Korea Foodservice Industry Association (KOFSIA) and the Korea Franchise Association (KFA). Friday’s meeting came after President Lee Jae-myung stressed the need to limit prices increases, especially food prices, as part of a broader government effort to improve the people’s livelihood.
“Food companies refrained from raising prices last year due to government pressure and only began adjusting prices earlier this year,” KFIA Vice Chairman Kim Myung-cheol said.
He urged the government to ease supply uncertainties for certain raw materials, such as soybeans imported under the tariff rate quota (TRQ) system, and to expand both the list of items subject to quota tariffs and the duration of their application.
KFIA Chairman Yoon Hong-geun requested greater government support for public delivery apps, citing the financial burden placed on restaurants by high commission fees charged by private-sector platforms such as Baedal Minjok (Baemin) and Coupang Eats.
For example, Baemin and Coupang Eats charge commissions of around 7.8 percent, compared to just 2 percent by the public delivery app “Daenggyeoyo,” developed by Shinhan Bank and supported by the Seoul metropolitan government.
Jin Hyun-joung, an economics professor at Chung-Ang University, analyzed that self-employed business owners are passing high delivery costs on to consumers, contributing to a structural rise in dining-out prices.
He proposed introducing a cap on total commission fees charged by delivery platforms.
Commenting on the issue, the prime minister nominee said, “Discussions, including possible legislation, are beginning on what constitutes a reasonable level. The government is closely monitoring the situation, and I hope the National Assembly will take a more active and proactive role.”
Although the year-on-year consumer price inflation rate fell to the 1 percent range in May for the first time in five months, prices for processed foods remained elevated, hovering in the 4 percent range for a second consecutive month.
Over the past six months, more than 60 food and restaurant companies have raised prices, drawing criticism that they may have taken advantage of the political turmoil and leadership vacuum following the failed attempt by now-impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol to impose martial law in December.
(Yonhap)
