The South Korean government said Wednesday that Korea must import Chinese garlic to meet trade agreement terms and the cost would be equally shared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; Commerce, Industry and Energy; and Information and Communication.

The decision was made as China is threatening to once again ban the import of polyethylene and mobile phones if Korea does not honor a pledge made last August to import 32,000 tons of garlic from China.

As a result, the three ministries have to pay $2.1 million dollars each to import the remaining 10,300 tons of garlic Korea has yet to purchase.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will use agricultural product stabilization funds to buy its share of the garlic.