Nine Soraepogu fish market stores caught tampering with scales

A official inspects the scale at a store in Soraepogu fish market in Namdong District, Incheon, on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Incheon’s well known Soraepogu fish market has come under fire for overcharging customers once again.

Nine of the market's 290 stores were caught tampering with their scales during the Namdong District Office's on-site examination on Monday.

The uncalibrated weighing scales exceeded the 60-gram (2.1 ounces) margin of error, showing a difference of 80 grams at maximum from the actual weight when officials put a five-kilogram (11-pound) product on the scale.

Two stores that sell jeotgal, or fermented fish, were also found not to have submitted medical reports to the office. Jeotgal vendors face a fine of 200,000 won ($150) if they do not receive an annual medical checkup.

The market has been accused multiple times of overpricing seafood and serving customers items other than those they'd selected.

The Namdong District Office in Incheon has previously issued warnings to the market. It conducted on-site probes on Feb. 29 and March 1.

The inspections were triggered by a YouTube video last month that showed a market merchant selling two snow crabs for 378,000 won without revealing their exact weight.

The market was also exposed online for selling legless crabs last year, which caused public outrage. Fish merchants apologized for their actions by taking a deep bow in front of the market on June 14 of last year.

The district plans to continue inspections at least three times a week to probe for additional violations, including those related to hygiene or product origins.

“The illegal commercial activities of some merchants are damaging the overall image of the market,” Namdong District Mayor Park Jong-hyo said. “We will remove the inconvenience customers are experiencing when visiting Seoraepogu by strictly cracking down on illegal commercial activities.”

BY HAN JEE-HYE, KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]