S. Korea firms face China's tighter rules over THAAD

South Korean companies are increasingly faced with China's unreasonable and tighter regulations after Seoul finalized the site for a high-tech U.S. missile defense system, sources said Tuesday.

Late last month, South Korea finalized a deal with Lotte Group to station a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on a Lotte golf course in the southeastern county of Seongju. Lotte agreed to receive a military-owned land plot near Seoul in return.

The deal came seven months after Seoul and Washington agreed to install the anti-missile battery to better counter missile threats from North Korea. China has slammed the deployment of the system, which comes with a high-powered radar, insisting America will use the device to spy on its military.

According to the sources, South Korean food manufacturers and cosmetics makers are taking the brunt of China's "retaliatory" measures.

"Chinese authorities are recently toughening customs clearance procedures for South Korean food products," an industry insider said. "It is common to take a sample survey, but these days, Chinese customs officials inspect all products, resulting in delayed customs clearance."

Makers of fresh foods or dairy products are said to suffer huge financial damage if customs clearance is delayed for several days because of their short shelf life. (Yonhap)