People line up at the KFC in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Wednesday to buy fried chicken skins, a hot new item. [CHOI YEON-SU]
Young Koreans are going crazy for KFC’s new fried chicken skins as the so-called bizarre food trend sweeps the country.
At 9: 40 a.m. on Wednesday, the KFC in Gangnam Station, southern Seoul, was full of people waiting to get their hands on the snack. When the store started serving food 20 minutes later, people rushed to line up at the self-service kiosk stands.
They were rushing to get their hands on the limited-edition fried chicken skin, which are sold for 2,800 won ($2.40) for 12 pieces.
The salty and greasy fried skins were first offered at KFC restaurants in Indonesia.
Here is the latest ban on a US food import to Korea:
The government’s import ban on U.S. chicken is feared to raise poultry prices.
U.S. poultry accounts for half of Korea’s chicken imports, or over 10 percent of consumption here.
In particular, prices of chicken legs could soar if the ban continues because Korea imports tens of thousands of chicken legs each year.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Sunday, Korea has banned the import of U.S.-bred chicken since Dec. 20, two days after a highly-pathogenic avian influenza virus was found in chickens on an Oregon farm.
Since then, no U.S. poultry has been brought into Korea unless they were killed before Dec. 20, or were heat-treated at over 70 degrees Celsius. [Korea Times]
