YONHAP, September 24 -- High temperature and hot summer and dry weather led to a surge in cabbage prices, the South Korean government decided to import from China, and encourage distributors to put goods in advance to ensure that cabbage prices are stable.

South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) announced measures to stabilize prices of horticultural agricultural products on Tuesday. A poor harvest caused by high temperatures and drought has led to a shortage of cabbage. In the middle of this month, the average wholesale price of a cabbage plant was 9,537 won (about 50 yuan), and the retail price was 20,000 to 23,000 won.

The MAFRA has decided to import fresh cabbage from China as the supply of cabbage will continue to decrease for some time. This is the fifth time the Korean government has imported Chinese cabbage. The MAFRA will import the first 16 tons of Chinese cabbage on the 27th, and gradually expand the import volume depending on the production situation in China. The Korea Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Distribution Corporation (aT) will supply imported cabbage to restaurants and food suppliers.

In addition, the government will continue to provide subsidies for local distributors and farmers' associations to encourage early delivery of cabbage, and will support discount activities of large supermarkets before next month 2 to reduce the burden on consumers.