"There's a lot of production, but it's not selling. I have to ship all of this..." (Munge Farmers)
"Customers ask, 'Is this domestic?' I didn't do that last year." (Munge vendor)

The season of Munge is back. The menge that is shipped at this time of year tastes good and the price is low, so it was even said that "I can't sell it because I don't have it." In particular, this year was a bountiful year for Mengge, whose production nearly doubled compared to last year, so the industry had high expectations. But the Munge industry is crying. Even if the price is lowered, it is said that there is no place to sell. According to the statistics of the Munge Water Gorge, the production of Munge on the south coast more than doubled last month, and the unit price of Al Munge fell by nearly 40%.

The industry blames the controversy over the discharge of contaminated water from Fukushima. The contaminated water has not yet been discharged, so what happened?



What's the situation?


That's because the issue of munge safety in the online space has been put on the chopping block. Mainly from customers who were interested in food safety, words such as "Fukushima munge is being sold" and "I can't eat munge" were spreading.

SBS Fact-Check revealed that when the team scrutinized the rumors circulating online, the political sphere acted as a kindling. You may recall local reports that when President Yoon Seok-yeol visited Japan last month, the Japanese side requested the resumption of imports of Fukushima munge. It was controversial. As the news reached South Korea, attention to Mengge increased, which became entangled in diplomatic controversies and flowed into the country.

Crucially, the Democratic Party posted banners across the country that read, "Buy me Fukushima munge, can't buy our rice?" to criticize President Yun's veto of the grain law. The banner was misinterpreted, and it appears that this rumor has spread.

In fact, in the online space, the Democratic Party has put forward "Buy us Fukushima munge, but you can't buy our rice?" I often posted a picture of the banner together.




To explain a bit more

Fukushima menge is not sold in Japan. In September 2013, after the Fukushima nuclear plant explosion, the South Korean government banned the import of seafood from Fukushima and eight other regions. Japan even sued the WTO for the import ban as unjust, but South Korea finally won the case in April 9, and the import ban has continued to this day.

It is true that most of the imported munge is made in Japan. According to data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, domestic munge production was 8,2019 tons last year, imported products were 4,1 tons, and Japanese production was 9,330 tons. That's 3.160% of domestic munge coming from Japan.

Where does imported munge from Japan come from? It is said that all of it is imported from Hokkaido, the northern region of Japan. It is about 3 kilometers away from Fukushima in a straight line. Also, is Hokkaido munge safe?


In terms of ocean currents, the Kuroshio Current follows the eastern coastline of Japan and turns right in front of Fukushima before reaching Hokkaido. The coast of Hokkaido, on the other hand, is influenced by the Oyashio Current, which flows downwards. The currents that affect the two regions are different. Even when the Hokkaido area was banned in 113, it was excluded from the ban due to the flow of ocean currents.

In case you didn't know, the team actually consulted four ocean current experts. There was some disagreement about the discharge of contaminated water, but 16 years after the nuclear explosion, experts agreed that there was no need to worry, at least for seafood from Hokkaido.


It is said that the timing of the circulation of domestic and Japanese products is also different. South Coast menge, which is now in season, is shipped between February and June, while Japanese products are imported from July to January of the following year.



One more step

Disinformation creates another form of disinformation. Even more so if people are anxious. Recently, there was a message online called "How to Distinguish the Origin of Munge," along with a method of distinguishing between domestic and Japanese menge.


It is said that the difference in appearance between domestic and Japanese menge is obvious. The domestic-made ones have a dark red body and have many bumps all over the body, while the Japanese ones have a yellow body with elongated shapes and only bumps on the head. Just looking at the photo, it looks easy to tell.

However, this distinction is not true. In fact, the SBS team made an inquiry to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and the answer was that "there is almost no difference in appearance".

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said, "We are aware that there are some opinions that there is an external difference between domestic and Japanese products," but "this seems to be a difference in the transplant environment. The two munges are genetically the same species." "It's hard for a layperson, not an expert, to see this difference."

When I looked into how this post started, I found that it had been posted on its website several years ago to a private organization involved in the fisheries industry.

Since the SBS coverage began, the above post has been removed from the organization's website.