S. Korea's food imports from Japan plummet amid radiation fears SEOUL, May 12

S. Korea's food imports from Japan plummet amid radiation fears SEOUL, May 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's food imports from Japan plunged this month as radiation fears cut demand after the deadly earthquake crippled the Fukushima nuclear power plant, data showed Thursday.

South Korea has imported a daily average of 75 tons of food from Japan so far this month, down 74.4 percent from a month earlier, according to the data by the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA).

The number of import cases also dropped to a daily average of 30, compared with 197 cases reported the previous month. No imports of fishery and forest products have been reported, the data showed.

The decline comes after Seoul beefed up safety requirements for food imports from disaster-hit areas in Japan following the March 11 earthquake and ongoing radiation scare.

South Korea started to request safety certificates for food imports from 13 affected regions in Japan this month as part of increased oversight of radiation contamination. All food from Japan should be shipped into Korea with origin-of-production certificates approved by the Tokyo government.