内容摘要：UK Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer said the move was "a deliberate obstacle to Palestinian statehood".

UK Foreign Office Minister Hamish Falconer said the move was "a deliberate obstacle to Palestinian statehood".

"Salmon's been part of this region's industrial revolution," he says. "There used to be a lot of poverty in the region, and now many people earn more than in other parts of Chile."Because of the industry a lot of support services have sprung up, which benefit the families living here, and people have moved here from other parts of the country for work."

Atlantic salmon are not native to Chile. Instead, eggs were brought over to Chile from the UK at the end of the 19th Century and released into rivers, lakes and the sea to grow into fish for recreational fishing.Farming the fish in netted, offshore pens then started in the 1970s, before growing substantially ever since. There were 1,343 active salmon farms across southern Chile at the end of last year.In 2024 as a whole, Chile exported 782,076 tonnes of salmon and trout, according to the latest annual figures from the Chile's National Customs Service. The vast majority of this is salmon, but the two fish are counted together in the official data.

This was worth $6.4bn (£4.8bn), making it Chile's third-biggest export after copper in first place and fresh fruit. It also means that Chile's salmon exports are only surpassed by Norway's.Some 86,000 people now work directly or indirectly for Chile's farmed salmon industry, according to trade body Salmón Chile. The farms stretch from the Biobío region, which is around 500km south of Santiago, right down to the Magallanes region in the far Patagonian south of the country, and more than 2,000km away from the capital.

With global demand for farmed salmon due to

by 2033, according to one report, Chilean producers are keen to increase their production. However, it actually fell slightly last year."After [Lee's] term as a governor, his reformist image faded somewhat as he focused more on his presidential ambitions," he says. "Still, on certain issues – like addressing past wrongs [during the Japanese colonial era], welfare and corruption – he has built a loyal and passionate support base by taking a firm and uncompromising stance."

This uncompromising attitude has its detractors, with many members and supporters of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) viewing Lee as aggressive and abrasive in his approach.Lee's political career has also been marred by a series of scandals – including a drink driving incident in 2004, disputes with relatives in the late 2010s and allegations of an extramarital affair that emerged in 2018.

While in other parts of the world voters have shown forgiveness and even support for controversial politicians, in South Korea – a country that is still relatively conservative in what it expects of public figures – such scandals have not typically played well.In recent years, Lee's political ambitions have been saddled with even more pressing controversies - including the ongoing legal cases that continue to hang over him, threatening to hamstring if not scuttle his chances at election.