[Anchor]

It has been revealed that cabbages in a region of China were distributed after being soaked in formaldehyde, a Group 1 carcinogen, supposedly to maintain freshness. South Korea imports 300,000 tons of Chinese kimchi and cabbages every year, and authorities are currently verifying whether these cabbages entered Korea.

This report comes from Beijing by correspondent Han Sang-woo.

[Reporter]

A cabbage cultivation area in Kangbao County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, China.

Workers are busy loading harvested cabbages onto trucks.

However, before loading them, the base of each cabbage is dipped into an unidentified liquid and taken out.

This liquid is formaldehyde, a Group 1 carcinogen.

Formaldehyde, a disinfectant and preservative also used for preserving biological tissues, was used to keep the cabbages fresh.

These cabbages are believed to have been distributed to various parts of China, including Jiangsu Province, 1,000 kilometers away from the cultivation site.

[Weiyizhige / Blogger Who Exposed Formaldehyde Cabbages : (Where are these cabbages being shipped to?) Jiangsu Province. (Is this shipping to Yancheng in Jiangsu? Or Changzhou?) They are going to Suqian.]

As the controversy grew, the Chinese government began tracking the distribution routes and volume of cabbages from the affected cultivation area.

It has ordered checks on whether cabbages nationwide are contaminated with formaldehyde.

In China, there were also incidents in 2012 and 2015 where more than 1.5 million tons of cabbages were pickled in formaldehyde and distributed.

Chinese consumers are worried about how far and how much formaldehyde-treated cabbage has been distributed.

However, an even bigger concern is that South Korea, which imports more than 300,000 tons of Chinese kimchi and cabbages annually, cannot rest easy.

Last year, imports of Chinese cabbage reached 20,000 tons, while kimchi imports amounted to 310,000 tons.

Moreover, kimchi imports from China through July of this year exceeded 194,000 tons, the highest ever for the same period.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has increased the frequency of formaldehyde testing on Chinese cabbages at the customs clearance stage.

It also announced that it is investigating whether the problematic cabbages entered Korea through the South Korean Embassy in China and other channels.

However, in the case of finished kimchi products, while the location of the kimchi factory is reported, it is difficult to know which region in China the raw cabbage came from, calling for a more thorough response.

(Photo courtesy of China Weiyizhige Douyin) (Video reporting: Choi Deok-hyun, Video editing: Jeong Yong-hwa, Design: Lee Ga-jin and Im Chan-hyeok)