Seafood Gift Sales for Chuseok Soar

It seems that the release of wastewater from Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant has done nothing to dampen sales of seafood gifts for Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving, whose sales have increased more than 60 percent compared to last year.Hyundai Department Store said on Sunday that sales of seafood gift sets last week, the week before Korea's biggest holiday starts, increased by 67 percent on-year.Sales of dried croakers, which cost about W200,000 per hamper, increased more than fivefold, even though the price rose about 20 to 30 percent due to a decrease in catch volume (US$1=W1,337).A staffer at Hyundai said, "Due to the government's efforts to promote domestic seafood consumption, sales of seafood gifts have increased even in the face of price hikes."Apples and pears have not fared so well, however. Their prices have increased by about 20 to 30 percent, while beef prices have dropped by around 10 percent, leading consumers to choose beef over fruit, the popular Chuseok gift item. As of last week, apple prices rose 19 percent on average compared to the same period last year, and pears some 32 percent.A Lotte Department Store staffer said, "With the decline in beef prices, sales of beef have increased by 30 percent compared to last year's Chuseok."