The salt in Korea has been treated as a mineral for the past 45 years since the Salt Management Law was enacted in 1963. The Salt Management Law was revised in November 2007 and it reclassified sea salt as food. The affairs related to sea salt were transferred from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy to the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in March 2009 for consistent and effective policy implementation.
Domestic sea salt has been less popular compared to imported sea salt in spite of containing more minerals such as K, Ca, and Mg. The Korean government recognizes the sea salt industry as a value-added industry, and has a plan to develop the industry. However, there exist many problems related with the production, distribution, and importation sectors of the sea salt industry. An objective of this study is to investigate several problems in those sectors and present solutions for the development of the industry.
The amount of sea salt produced in 2008 was 384,304 tons, and Chonnam province is the largest producer of sea salt, holding an 80% share of total production area. Prices of domestic sea salt are relatively high compared to imported sea salt. The market share of domestic sea salt in the domestic salt market is about 10%, and Japan was the biggest importer of Korean sea salt in 2009.
One of the major problems of the sea salt industry is that the institutional mechanism for promoting the growth of the industry is not well established. In the production sector, many problems impede the development of the sea salt industry: small business size of producers, high rental rate, lack of labor force, high labor cost, and poor infrastructure. It should be noted that there are other major obstacles to overcome: complicated distribution channels, sales of fake sea salt, and poor distribution facilities.
To develop the sea salt industry, related laws need to be revised and a hygiene management system should be established. Setting up of plans to foster successors and introduction of an integrated management system are key factors for the development of the sea salt industry. Lastly, it is necessary that the Korea Salt Management Association, which was established in 1967, achieves the transparency of management and obtains the confidence of its members.


Researchers: Han Jae-Hwan and Choi Byung-Ok
Research period: 2010. 4. - 2010. 6.
E-mail address: jhhan@krei.re.kr