In Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and central Asian countries, A.I. broke out and spread over Asia and Europe at early 2000’s. A.I., also known as avian influenza, is a highly contagious bird flu. South Korea’s avian flu is referred as H5N6, which is a subtype of the virus, and influenza A virus. Avian influenza is lethal to birds with mortality of 90%~100%, but to humans, it gives common cold symptoms.
 
Until 2004, Avian flu was a problem only for some central Asian countries. However based on the International Journal of Health Geographics, it became growing concern in South Korea when the avian virus broke out in Chug Bug Enum Seong-gun because of the migratory birds which were infected with the influenza. After the break out in Enum Seong-gun, AI started to spread in South Korea by different pathways to various regions, and shocked the people for its deadliness.
 
Between 2003 and 2004, millions of bird deaths caused chaos within South Korea’s poultry population after AI broke out. The government slaughtered around 5 million infected fowls to prevent the spread of AI and spent about 153 billion won as disposal budget. After the massive slaughter, AI seemed to have weakened; but, as time passed, the nightmare of A.I once again resurfaced. Between 2006 and 2007, AI started to break out, and the government killed around 2.8 million chickens, and used 58.2 billion Won for disposal compensation. Also, in 2008, 10 million fowls were culled once more, and 307 billion won was allocated for disposal compensation.
 
In the last few months, AI broke out again. This time, the damage inflicted by AI was so far the most brutal. Following standard procedure, the government disposed of the fowls infected with influenza. As a result, the price of eggs and poultry related products increased dramatically. All of South Korea was affected by AI, but Jeju Island was least affected of their fast prevention.

For more information about this, I went to local Uli-Deul Mart and interviewed Jeongmi Kho, manager of the poultry section.
Q: When did the price of egg start to increase in Jeju?
A: The price of eggs start to increase in Jeju when the price of eggs in mainland increased;  when the price of mainland’s eggs rose up to 10,000 Won, the  price of Jeju eggs rose to 7,000 won.
 
Q: How is the supply of eggs? Is it enough?
A: The Supplies of eggs didn’t decrease, but in this market, we only use eggs produced in Jeju. It’s forbidden to bring eggs in the mainland because the price of eggs is too high.
 
Q:  How is the price of eggs in Jeju now?
A: Currently, the price of eggs is starting to decrease, but still, importing eggs from mainland is forbidden.
 
According to Daily Economy, the government has decreased the disposal of infected poultry to reduce the cost of disposal compensation. This has resulted to the, worsening of the situation by allowing some infected birds to live. Also, this situation pertaining to AI will only get worse because birds will soon be migrating, and migratory birds are the main source of AI dispersion.
 
The government should realize the severity of AI and start making drastic actions to prevent influenza from infecting humans. The slow reaction from the government last year resulted in the biggest damage by AI. As a result, millions of birds were slaughtered, prices of eggs and fowls increased, and Korea’s poultry population was damaged severely. In conclusion, with the migration season fast approaching, the government should take immediate action to prevent AI from worsening.
 
 








Dongki Kim
Freshman
Korea International School Jeju campus
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