Sunjin's 40-year quest to breed the perfect samgyeopsal pig

Liberation Day on Saturday is prompting a fresh look at another kind of independence on the Korean table — "breeding stock independence," an effort to develop pig breeds suited to local conditions that produce the pork flavors Koreans love.

Livestock company Sunjin said it began its own breeding stock improvement program in 1983. Over more than four decades, the company has worked to strengthen what it calls "Korean-type breeding stock" — pigs adapted to the domestic climate and farming environment and capable of producing pork that matches Korean food culture.

Breeding stock refers to the parent pigs used to produce the next generation. Domestic pork production typically relies on a YLD crossbreeding system combining Yorkshire, Landrace and Duroc breeds. While Yorkshire and Landrace primarily contribute to reproductive performance and maternal traits, the Duroc — used as the sire line — plays a key role in meat quality and intramuscular fat development. That is why Sunjin has focused its flavor-oriented breeding work on the Duroc.

To find that "flavor balance" with greater precision, Sunjin has incorporated AI into its breeding program, developing a proprietary computer-vision AI system that analyzes marbling patterns and the ratio of fat to lean meat in cross-sections of pork cuts.

The result: samgyeopsal from Sunjin's Duroc line averages marbling content of 10 percent or above, compared with roughly 3 to 5 percent for overseas Duroc breeds.

"The flavor Koreans prefer in pork is achieved across the entire value chain — from selecting quality breeding stock to feeding management and microbial control in processing," said Kim Dae-seung, head of Sunjin's Fit & Food Innovation Center. "We will continue to strengthen the competitiveness of Korean-type breeding stock through the technology we have accumulated over more than 40 years."