Another “woe is us” article about prices going up. How to solve this plague on Korea? Once again let’s look at the tariffs involved:
The cost of the nation’s favorite pork delicacy, samgyeopsal, or grilled belly strips, has soared especially high, 33 percent on-year.
Yes, I am sure the 30% on streaky pork belly (ie samgyeopsal) has nothing to do with the price being so high.
The price of chicken soared as well, to 2,080 won per kilogram as of last Friday, a 52.9 percent increase on-year.
Again, I am sure 22.5% tariff on chicken cannot be part of the problem.
Vegetables, such as cabbage, are also growing more expensive. The price of potatoes has skyrocketed due to cold weather caused by climate change.
Cabbage: 27-45%, Potatoes: 27%
Sigh… Then again, the “cold” weather due to global “warming” editorial jab is worth a smile.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Say, when you’ve finished with that tax schedule, could you let me borrow it?
Damn… Now the frigging ajimas (sp) are gonna make the commissary empty. But oh yeah I forgot there is no black marketing in Korea.
I was the editor for that piece, and that’s a good point. I’ll try to account for the influence of tariffs next time. I think we got the key reasons for the immediate rise — higher domestic demand coupled with a weaker won — but obviously the tariffs will have an effect.
And I’m told by the writer that the climate change line refers less to global warming and more to increasingly unpredictable weather patterns that she says hurt recent domestic yields. Obviously more explanation of that in the article instead of ascribing it to “climate change” would have been helpful.
By the way, if anyone has any comments or complaints at all about how to improve the JoongAng Daily please let me know. My e-mail is bapplegate [at] gmail.com. I just arrived back here recently but I want to help us do the best we can.
Great, another post from dram_man where he displays, yet again, his knowledge of and outrage at Korea’s tariffs. It’s been about two months so I guess we were due.
Yeah, good thing there is global warming or it would have been even colder, eh?
@5
Anthropogenic climate change, if it’s taking place, is not as simple as “everywhere gets warmer at the same time.” That’s based on a fundamental misunderstanding of climate science.
@sagwamun
I can understand the idea of going off the nominal y-o-y price differences, and the seductive cover, however that is only part of the story to me.
If Korea did have more products coming in, I would think that they would be more responsive to price changes, increase supply, and thus blunt the price increase. However the extensive tariff systems (not to mention the unmentioned NTB’s), do limit the chances for this “steam valve” to work.
Second, if the tariffs were not there to begin with, it is possible that there would be more supply in the first place thus blunting the increase. Not only that domestic firms would be much more competitive and responsive to local changes, much more so than the “steam valve” mentioned.
@cmm
Yes I know it’s a little redundant. However I do not see anywhere this is discussed in conjunction with the “woe is us” price headlines. If somebody else mentioned it, I would go on.
Frankly, I think it’s ridiculous that the “conservative” position on climate change has been to deny its existence. The use of the term “global warming” in this context to describe “climate change” is bollocks.
what do you suppose the ROK govt does with all those tariffs and depriving its citizens of kogi?
it sure is keeping the Koreans thin.
I’m guessing it goes into
1/ supporting jaebol industries.
2/ paying for social services, including national health care, the same that some gyopos like bumfromkorea’s family are abusing, while contributing next to nothing in ROK taxes.
3/ paying for military expense to keep the Kim Dynasty in check.
One white guy once asked me if Koreans eat a lot of meat.
I just laughed my head off.
What a dumb ass. He’s my friend. He’s still a dumb ass.
The low meat consumption…it kinda hurts. But then again, higher meat consumption has a good chance of lowering life expectancy. So in the end, I’m happy.
I’m a vegetarian and I’m still chubby as hell. Carrot cake.
Plenty of meat and other junk being eaten here these days. Maybe not up to US “Supersize me” standards but its catching up. The youth and teenagers especially.
Arghaeri, meat prices are significantly higher in Korea than, say, in the U.S. Consider that, and consider also that per capita gdp is significant lower in Korea.
Especially beef. Beef is almost a delicacy over there.
NathanB,
Dram Man is justified in using the words ‘global warming’ because the proponents of global warming only changed the word to ‘climate change’ because the data did not match their ideology. Now they can claim any extreme weather pattern is part of ‘climate change’, something they were having trouble with when it was called ‘global warming’. Seems like a ‘all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others’ switcheroo to me.
@11
http://photos.travellerspoint.com/13390/DSCF2866.JPG
@15
That’s because you have no idea what you’re talking about. Scientists changed the terminology because the theory is not as simple as “warming, everywhere, all the time.”
Overall global temperatures are still rising. [1] [2] But when you use a heat lamp to melt an ice cube in a tub of water the water’s going to get colder in some places. And even that’s an oversimplification — local climates are incredibly complex.
You’re like a laid-off auto worker in Detroit trying to convince people that the entire U.S. economy hasn’t grown since the ’70s because your city has gone down the tubes.
“One white guy once asked me if Koreans eat a lot of meat.
I just laughed my head off.”
Why? It’s a valid question.
Older Koreans eat mostly vegetarian dishes at home. When they eat out, which is quite frequently, they eat meat.
As for Korean kids, they seem to subsist on junk food.
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