Since late November, South Korea has recorded ten cases of HPAI in what appears to be a replay of 2022.  Yonhap News Agency and reports to the World Organization of Animal Health document the following recent cases: -

• December 4^th - Ducks in Goheung County.
• December 5th Chickens (presumably egg production) 513,000 birds with H5N6 strain.  confirmed December 12th. Jeollanam 
• December 9^th - Two outbreaks on chicken farms (type not specified) requiring depletion of 160,000 birds in Gimje City and 30,000 in Asan City.
• December 13^th – Two outbreaks at Iksan in North Jeolle Province with a total of 200,000 ‘birds,’ presumably held for egg production.
• Isolation of H5N1 from wild birds including mallards and swans during December

H5N1 strain avian influenza was introduced onto the Korean Peninsula by migratory waterfowl and marine birds as in previous years. Outbreaks in 2020 resulted in depletion of one third of the laying hens in South Korea followed my numerous outbreaks in 2021 with losses amounting to twenty percent of the Nation’s laying hens The question in late 2023 is whether enhanced biosecurity and a rapid response to outbreaks will limit the extent of infection that necessitated importation of both shell eggs and egg liquids to satisfy domestic demand in past years.