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Farmers are deeply troubled by the recent sharp drop in Korean beef prices.



However, the price of Korean beef actually purchased by consumers is still high, and reporter Kim Soo-young covered the reason.



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A large mart in Seoul.

We held a discount event of up to 50% Korean beef for Lunar New Year, and customers flocked to it even during the daytime on weekdays.



[Kim Hee-jin/Gangseo-gu, Seoul: I wouldn't have picked it up if it hadn't been discounted.

It 's a bit expensive even with a discount.]



[Lee Hye-sook/Gangseo-gu, Seoul: I don't think that (the price of Korean beef) has dropped at all.

It's still burdensome, so it's not easy to buy without a sale.]



However, the wholesale price situation is completely different.



1+ grade tenderloin was around 8,000 won per 100g last week, down more than 10% from a year ago.



First of all, it is because the number of Korean cattle raised has increased to 3.55 million, the highest ever.



Two years ago, when the price of Korean beef was high, farmers scrambled to increase their breeding, so now it has become a factor in oversupply.



On the other hand, the consumption of Korean beef decreased as living conditions became tighter, and the average amount of Korean beef purchased per household last year decreased by 6.1% from the previous year.



The reason why consumers do not feel this drop in wholesale prices is because retail stores and restaurants do not lower prices due to increases in labor and operating costs, even though the price of Korean food is falling in the production area, in addition to the complicated distribution process.



Some retailers take the position that "the price can be lowered only when the stock of Korean beef purchased when it is expensive is sold out."



It is a similar reason to why gas station selling prices did not fall directly because of inventory when the price of crude oil went down.



In the meantime, the difficulties of Korean beef farmers are getting serious.



[Seo Yeong-seok/National Korean Beef Association Policy Director: As farmers are struggling, distributors should lower prices and boost consumption. Farmers live later and consumers can consume more (Korean beef) at a lower price...

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The Korean Beef Association said, “The production cost per head of Korean beef is about 11 million won, but the wholesale price is only about 7 million won.”



(Video coverage: Kim Won-bae, Jeon Kyung-bae, Shin Dong-hwan, video editing: Kim Byeong-jik, CG: Jang Seong-beom)