On the night of the 11th at an agricultural and marine products wholesale market in Songpa District, Seoul. As midnight approached, people crowded around the auction hall. They were intermediate wholesalers looking to take part in the onion auction that starts at 11 p.m. About 40 trucks loaded with freshly harvested domestic onions were also waiting their turn for auction.
The intermediate wholesalers hurried to inspect the onions. They checked the size of the onions on the auction stand and felt them to compare firmness. There was talk about the going rate. When one trader said, "It will be on a downward trend again today," another replied, "You won't know until you open them."
As the auction began, onion sellers watched the status board with anxious looks. The average transaction price for 15 kg of new-crop, standard-grade onions was set at 8,828 won. The 9,000-won level per 15 kg sack was given up again in just one day. From various corners came laments like, "It fell further," and "We won't even cover labor costs."
As the price of domestic onions has fallen below that of imports, the woes of onion farms in Korea are deepening. The government has moved to stabilize prices by increasing reserves, but some say a fundamental fix is difficult without standardizing the quality of domestic onions and diversifying buyers.
◇ Domestic onions cheaper than imports… price inversion for six months
The "price inversion," in which domestic onions are cheaper than imports, has continued for six months since Nov. last year. Usually, this occurs temporarily from January to March, when long-stored domestic onions and freshly harvested Chinese onions are transacted together. Lately, however, the mood is that it is hardening structurally beyond a seasonal phenomenon.
According to agricultural product distribution data from the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), based on the average wholesale price per kg this year, there was only one day out of 126 trading days when domestic onions transacted higher than Chinese onions. On the 12th, even standard-grade imported onions transacted at an average of 1,426 won per kg, while domestic onions stayed around 412–516 won per kg.
A person surnamed Jeong (68), who runs an onion wholesale business in Songpa District, said, "Lately, domestic onions are transacting about 700–800 won lower than imports," adding, "Because demand for domestic onions is low, they inevitably come out at lower prices."
◇ Uniform Chinese onions from large-scale cultivation… rising demand from food service companies
Imports of Chinese onions totaled about 130,000 tons last year. That is more than four times the volume in 2020. Notably, private-sector imports accounted for 85% of the total. Even while bearing a high tariff of 135%, imports of Chinese onions have not declined.
Industry officials cite as a main reason that Chinese onions, through large-scale cultivation and mechanized farming, are relatively uniform in size and shape. Most Chinese onions are produced on vast plains around the Shandong Peninsula. By contrast, many domestic onions are grown by relatively small farms, leading to significant quality differences by producing area and farm.
An onion wholesaler surnamed A said, "Chinese products are relatively accurate in weight and stable in quality, such as bulb size and shape," adding, "By contrast, domestic products are often unevenly sorted or mixed with 'sokbagi.'" Sokbagi refers to a method where good-looking onions are placed on the outside, while relatively smaller or poorer onions are put on the inside.
Changes in eating habits are also cited as a cause of declining demand for domestic onions. Household consumption of onions has fallen, while the share of large buyers such as food service companies and institutional meals has grown. Whether onions are a uniform size, store well for a long time, and are easy to handle has become a more important criterion in choosing them. According to the Rural Development Administration, the frequency of onion purchases per household decreased from 9.8 times a year in 2010 to 7.0 times in 2024.
◇ Onion farms' "plow-up protest"… "We can't even recover production costs"
Domestic onion farms are pushing back, saying selling prices do not even cover production costs. On the 4th last month in key onion-producing areas—Gimcheon in North Gyeongsang, Hamyang in South Gyeongsang, Wanju in North Jeolla, and Muan in South Jeolla—farmers simultaneously plowed under onion fields with tractors.
Kang Seon-hee, policy director of the National Onion Producers Association, said, "As price declines, rising production expenses, and aging farm households coincide, more producers are struggling," adding, "The government needs to urgently expand public reserves, diversify the onion industry, and develop storage technology."
To stabilize prices, the government decided to expand onion reserves. It plans to stockpile 20,000 tons of onions, 82% more than an average year, and release them to the market once supply and demand conditions stabilize. It is also promoting measures to boost onion consumption and halt shipments of surplus supplies.
However, some say it will be difficult to restore the competitiveness of domestic onion farms by relying only on government measures. Separate from short-term supply-demand control, improvements to origin-area sorting systems, advancement of storage technology, and expansion of buyers such as processing and institutional meals need to proceed in parallel.
Lim Jeong-bin, a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology at Seoul National University, said, "Because onions are a key ingredient in kimchi, quality upgrades centered on key producing areas are needed," adding, "As with France's Egalim law, which raises the share of eco-friendly, local farm products in public meals, Korea also needs to prepare ways to diversify buyers for domestic onions."