South Korea to build new seafood centre for exports

A new packaging centre will be set up near South Korea's main international airport to meet growing overseas demand for live fish and shellfish products.

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the centre near Incheon International Airport west of Seoul will be opened for operations Tuesday and could help the transport of live fishery products by plane.

The facility, to be managed by the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative, will help reduce costs of exporters who currently have to operate individual aquariums and packaging lines.

It is estimated that a centralised facility can save each exporter KRW500 million (US$424,553) per year and can boost overseas sales of seafood products, according to Park Chong-guk, deputy minister for fisheries policies.