In the past five years, over 27,000 cases of regulated pests and diseases have been detected during the quarantine process of imported plants, according to a report. The risk of foreign pests entering the country is increasing, prompting the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency to implement enhanced, tailored quarantine measures.
From 2021 to 2025, the agency conducted inspections on 8,117,455 imported plants, discovering 27,093 cases of regulated pests and diseases as of the 20th of this month. Regulated pests and diseases require actions like disinfection or disposal due to their potential significant harm to plants. These are categorized into prohibited and controlled pests and diseases.
The detection rate of these pests, relative to the number of inspections, averaged 0.3% over the past five years, which is a 0.1% increase from the 0.2% rate from 2016 to 2020. An official explained that the increase is due to enhanced quarantine measures and improved detection capabilities. Despite global trade expansion and changes in quarantine conditions influenced by climate change, the quarantine of imported plants and pest management are deemed stable.
Of the detected regulated pests, 23,356 cases involved insects, 3,598 involved pathogens like viruses and bacteria, and 139 involved weeds, with insects constituting the largest portion at 86%. Among prohibited pests, species like the Banana Root Borer (102 cases) and Potato Wart (72 cases) were identified. Items found with prohibited pests were either destroyed or returned and emergency import restrictions were placed to prevent their entry into the country.
By country, most detections occurred in imports from China, the Netherlands, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam. Specifically, many insects were found in Chinese chrysanthemum cut flowers, Dutch cut flowers, Thai durians, American dried distillers grains, and Vietnamese wood pellets.
Detection also varied by quarantine location: flower cuttings and seeds at Incheon Airport, fresh vegetables and seedlings at the Central Region Office (Incheon Port), and fresh fruits and vegetables at the Yeongnam Region Office (Busan Port) had more frequent detections.
In response to these findings, the quarantine agency plans to implement three customized measures to eliminate quarantine vulnerabilities. Firstly, they will notify countries with frequent pest detections to improve pre-export sanitary conditions and consider emergency import restrictions if necessary.
Additionally, the agency will strengthen specialized inspection capabilities by developing experts in areas specific to each regional office: microscopic pests like aphids and scale insects at Incheon and Yeongnam, nematodes like root-knot and root-boring nematodes at the Central Region, and fungal pathogens at the Honam Region.
Moreover, the agency is actively researching and developing new inspection methods utilizing advanced genetic analysis technologies such as real-time polymerase chain reaction to effectively control plant bacterial diseases and other pests.
Jeong-Rok Choi, head of the agency, emphasized the increasing risk of foreign pests due to global trade expansion and climate change, stating that they will do their utmost to protect agriculture and ecosystems using a scientifically data-driven, tailored quarantine system.