Nearly 3 million U.S. eggs en route to bird flu-hit South Korea

The first batch of fresh eggs from the United States will arrive in South Korea on Saturday to ease the country's egg shortage caused by its worst-ever bird flu epidemic, industry sources and an agriculture ministry official said on Wednesday. South Korea's two major airliners -- Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, will each carry 100 tonnes of eggs, for a total of 2.98 million, said two industry sources with knowledge of the matter. Spokesman from both airlines confirmed the shipments. These are the first fresh egg imports from the U.S. to South Korea and the first fresh eggs imports since 1999. The imported U.S. eggs will be distributed to grocery stores and supermarkets ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday season at the end of this month.