Stricter GMO governance expected in South Korea as public sentiment remains hostile Food and beverage firms have been warned that South Korea is expected to further tighten its governance on genetically-modified (GM) foods despite recent policy moves indicating that officials were adopting a less strict approach. Public sentiment in South Korea in general trends against GMO foods, with a previous survey by research firm Korea Biosafety Clearing House (KBCH) showing that over 83% of national consumers want stricter regulations to be imposed on GMO handling, storage, distribution and labelling. The Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) appears to have recently been adjusting GMO standards to be less stringent – such as its recent modification allowing food products with only trace amounts of GM ingredients to make ‘non-GMO’ label claims to align with international standards.