Japan Buys First South Korea Rice in Two Decades As Prices Surge

Japan’s surging rice prices have opened a rare window of opportunity for South Korean producers to export the staple food.

Japan imported the first rice from South Korea since 1999 as soaring prices of domestic grain fueled demand for foreign products despite heavy tariffs, a South Korean industry official said Monday.

The imports were made via the Japan office of South Korea’s National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, better known as NongHyup, which said it brought in and sold 2 tons of Korean rice online and at local supermarkets this month.

While the amount accounts for a sliver of Japan’s consumption, it ...