South Korea is on the top of the GMO export list for animal feed, and while biotech promised that GM spills wouldn’t cause harm to non-GM crops, a new study proves that South Korea is fraught with genetically modified soy, and canola, which is already mixing with non-GM plants to breed more toxic crops.
“Monsanto and others claim the chances of GM crops growing after spilling during the import/transit process are low, but the NIE studies show that the fears of ecosystem disruption in South Korea from GM crops are already becoming a reality.”
The damage isn’t small either. Choi Jun-ho, Chief of Policy for the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, says that the GM canola seed spillage into nearby farms is already mixing with non-GM cabbage varieties, and that they anticipate GM soy mixing with organic glycine soja, causing enormous damage.
A National Institute of Ecology recently commented that the discovery of unapproved GM crops in South Korea:
“. . .is not a matter that can be taken lightly in terms of ecosystem protection.”
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These ‘mystery plants’ have been popping up all over the country – and the new report analyzed 521 suspected samples from 647 regions to find that a total of 21 GM crops were growing in 18 areas already.
The majority of the contaminated crops were found in areas near livestock farms, though the ‘mystery plants’ were also found along import transportation routes (six) and near feed factories (three). South Korea imports all of their GMOs used for food and feed; the discoveries are believed to be the result of imported corn and cotton seeds sprouting after being spilled on the way to feed factories and livestock farms.
As Jun-ho points out, this can cause serious damage to local ecosystems and create super weeds, which have proven hard to control in areas like the Midwestern US.
The National Institute of Environmental Research in South Korea is conducting GMO monitoring throughout the remainder of the year, immediately collecting any of these GM crops it discovers and subjecting them to high-pressure sterilization.
Will that be enough to save Korea’s landscape from massive GM contamination?