Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein
North Korean authorities are trying to procure higher-yield South Korean rice seeds to cope with chronic food shortages. But instead of simply asking Seoul for the seeds, which are not subject to economic sanctions, Pyongyang’s trade representatives are attempting to bring them in via China, posing difficulties with Chinese customs inspections, sources say.
“I was asked by a North Korean trade worker in China to get South Korean rice seeds, but there’s no easy way to bring seeds from Korea into China, so I am not sure what to do,” said a source in a Chinese border city.
The source said relatives living in South Korea have already procured 30 kilograms of the seeds and are ready to ship them.
“But I have to go through a very complicated process to bring the seeds here, so I am hesitant about the whole thing,” said the source, adding, “Plant seeds, especially those for agricultural products have a meticulous customs inspection that takes forever to get through.”
Other products from South Korea can be brought into China with relative ease, according to the source.
“Merchants who do the China-South Korea run by ferry can usually bring whatever they want into China but most of them avoid anything having to do with farming, because clearing customs is so difficult,” said the source.
In recent years, farming conglomerates worldwide have vigorously defended their intellectual property rights for engineered seeds. Seoul, however, doesn’t mind if merchants take the rice seeds out of the country.
“It isn’t too difficult to pass South Korean customs, but [merchants] have to report the seeds to Chinese maritime customs. Then they have to pay high tariffs and go through a strict quarantine,” the source said.
“If they try to smuggle them (into China) to avoid the hassle, they face [the possibility of] heavy fines and criminal punishment,” said the source.
“I am pretty certain that North Korean authorities are ordering their trade workers in China to find South Korean seeds. They aren’t really asking for a lot of them. I think they will conduct experiments on the seeds to see if they are suitable for North Korea’s soil and weather,” said the source.
A second source, from a Chinese border city, noted that North Korea was able to bring beech seeds from Ulleung-do, a South Korean island east of the Korean peninsula, but wondered why Pyongyang is trying to get Southern rice seeds in such a roundabout way.
“They can have these kinds of plant seeds easily if they just ask the South Korean government, especially now that North and South Korea are trying to be friendly with each other,” the source said, adding, “It is hard to understand why they are being so secretive.”
North Korea Tries to Secretly Get South Korean Rice Seeds Using Traders in China
Joonho Kim and Jae Wan Noh
Radio Free Asia
2019-04-15
