Diplomacy Journal David Kendall | The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) announced on January 29 that Korea’s 2025 seafood exports reached USD 3.33 billion (preliminary), representing a 9.7% increase from the previous year and the highest level on record.

The top seafood export was once again gim (dried laver). According to the MOF, USD 1.13 billion worth of gim products was exported last year, a 13.7% increase year-on-year and a new all-time high. The Ministry added, “Gim has continuously strengthened its international competitiveness by developing a range of products tailored to overseas consumers' tastes and expanding overseas demand driven by the popularity of the Korean Wave.”

Steady growth was recorded across major markets, including the EU and the three largest importers of Korean seafood products, the MOF reported: Exports to No. 1 Japan rose 3.1% year-on-year; No. 2 China, 18.0%; and No. 3 United States, 9.0%. 

High value-added products like seasoned seaweed, tuna, and oysters lifted Korea’s seafood exports to the United States, the MOF noted, despite the reciprocal tariffs imposed in the spring of 2025. 

The MOF said it will enhance the competitiveness of Korean seafood products abroad by supplying policy funds and export vouchers to export companies in order to promote continued export growth in 2026. In addition, the MOF said it is planning promotional marketing that will link international sports to its Sea Sports Project (e.g., related booths at sports events, promotional videos, a gim promotion center in airport duty-free shops, and "Korean Wave star-linked marketing“).

“Going forward, we will actively support the sustained growth of the K-seafood export industry by strategically fostering promising export items such as gim and expanding the export base to include not only key markets like Japan, China, and the United States but also emerging markets such as Europe and the Middle East," said Acting Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Kim Seong-beom.

Local governments are also supporting the rising popularity of Korean seafood. In August last year, The Asia Business Daily (ABD) reported that Wando-gun County in Jeollanam-do Province and a local International Lions Club had signed an agreement to “ensure the successful hosting of the 2026 Pre Wando International Seaweed Expo.”

The Expo—themed "Climate Leaders: The Ocean Future Opened by Seaweed"—will be held from May 2 to May 7, 2026, at Wando Beach Park and other venues, according to ABD.

Some analysts worry that government programs supporting production could lead to oversupply and collapsing prices. The Chosun Daily in early 2025 reported on Korea’s gim “paradox: surging prices, wasted supply.” Reporters Kim Yun-ju and Lee Jung-soo noted that gim “is more expensive than ever—yet tons of its raw ingredient are being thrown away.”

“In S. Korea’s agriculture and fisheries sector,” the article stated, “a familiar pattern repeats itself: when a product becomes popular, producers flood the market, driving up supply—only for prices to crash soon after.” Alongside promotion, the reporters concluded, “authorities should accurately predict cultivation areas and production volumes each year in advance, while also assessing how these factors will impact prices.”

The MOF and local governments are banking on rising exports being able to pick up any slack.