Select blue-collar workers in the country received year-end gifts from President Yoon Suk-yeol consisting of six different kinds of nuts. The products were all imported nuts instead of locally-grown ones. Screen captured from Facebook

By Ko Dong-hwan

Rep. Yoon Joon-byeong of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea revealed President Yoon Suk-yeol's gifts of imported nuts for Korean farmers and other members of the public. Newsis

Some 2,200 blue-collar workers in Korea recently received special gifts from President Yoon Suk-yeol which, on the president's part, was meant as a gesture of encouragement for the end of the year. But instead of sharing that message, some of the recipients were left wondering why the gifts were imports instead of local products.

The gifts consisted of six kinds of nuts in glass jars and packed inside a blue box with the logo of the presidential office on top. Enclosed in the box was a printed note by the president that said the country "will always be with you" and wished a Happy New Year to the recipients. The note had the president's hand-written signature at the bottom.

Each glass container, however, was labeled with ingredient information indicating that roasted peanuts and pumpkin seeds were of Chinese origin, while walnuts, almonds, dried plums and pistachios came from the U.S.

Rep. Yoon Joon-byeong of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), whose constituency is the rural town of Gochang in North Jeolla Province, revealed the information on Facebook, Saturday. He said some of the residents of Gochang informed him of that fact.

"Some local residents asked me yesterday," the politician said. "They said, 'I got a year-end present from the president and they were all imports. Now, I'm wondering if the president sent this to deliberately agitate me.' They wondered whether the gifts could have been comprised domestic products instead."

"The imported nuts from the president should be condemned especially when the country's farmers are going through hard times right now with rice prices plunging," Rep. Yoon said.

Other lawmakers from the DPK also said the incident signifies how blind the Yoon administration is when it comes to the country's farmers.

The presidential office, following the DPK politician's claim, explained that the presents were prepared not by the office but by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The ministry then released an official statement acknowledging that fact and said it will check the countries of origin and manufacturers more closely from now on.

"We have been preparing gifts for the country's laborers, including miners, street cleaners and social workers under an incumbent president's name to express our appreciation for them since 1981," the ministry said. "We used results from surveys conducted by local governments to identify what their communities most need. We then selected a group of 89,306 people and have been sending the gifts to them."

The ministry added that the nuts were manufactured by companies that hired people with "serious disabilities" and the companies were chosen as the outsourcers to support the creation of more job opportunities for disadvantaged people.