February 20, 2004

South Korean Celebrities Unite To Promote Poultry Consumption

A group of South Korean singers on Thursday attended a street event in downtown Seoul to promote poultry safety and consumption, in a bid to revive poultry sales.

About 15 celebrities took part in the event that involves eating chicken and duck and giving gifts to spectators in the downtown shopping district of Myeongdong.

The event was organized by South Korea National Agricultural Cooperative Federation as an effort to encourage local people to resume poultry consumption.

Some 1,000 people stood 100-meter-long queue waiting to taste fried chicken, toasted duck and other poultry food, provided freely by event organizer.

The first case of H5N1 bird flu hit South Korea in late last year, and up to now about 19 cases were confirmed. The latest case was reported on Feb. 5.

Among the about 1,600 people who contacted diseased poultry, none was found to has been infected by the bird flu.

The South Korean government has decided to hold various event to boost the consumption of poultry and related food, in addition to placing TV advertisements and issuing chicken coupons to raise understanding of the flu, which experts say does not affect humanswhen poultry are well cooked.

Nearly 70 percent of the country reduced chicken consumption after the disease was discovered here in December, leading to a 26.4 percent decline in consumption compared with the same period a year earlier, according to a survey. This has led to a sharp fall in prices.

With the help of the government-backed promotional events, however, chicken consumption is showing signs of picking up, according to industry sources.