The Weather Is Not to Blame

Legislation aimed at breaking the 40-year monopoly of agricultural wholesale market corporations has passed its first hurdle. A bill that would expel wholesale corporations, which have never been replaced since the establishment of public wholesale markets despite suspicions of collusion over commission fees, has passed the bill review subcommittee of the National Assembly's standing committee. Attention is now focused on whether President Lee Jaemyung’s pledge to improve the irrational structure of agricultural product distribution will gain momentum. According to the National Assembly on November 26, the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee (AFROF Committee) held a bill review subcommittee the previous day and passed the amendment to the Act on Distribution and Price Stabilization of Agricultural and Fishery Products (the Agricultural Products Act). The amendment is known to mandate the cancellation of designation for underperforming wholesale corporation

Editor's NoteWe now live in an era where "agflation," driven by climate change, has become the norm, pushing up agricultural product prices. Every time abnormal weather events such as droughts, monsoons, or heatwaves occur, food prices fluctuate wildly. Unpredictable weather, which leads to poor harvests, is often cited as the cause of soaring agricultural prices. This is only half true. The opaque distribution structure of agricultural products manipulates prices, using the weather as a shield. Farmers are frustrated as the crops they have painstakingly grown fail to fetch fair prices in the market, while consumers are caught in a vicious cycle, paying far more than the farm-gate price. The Asia Business Daily investigates the cartel hidden within the agricultural distribution system, masked by weather as an external factor, and explores alternatives to the agricultural auction system that has remained unchanged for 40 years. In recent years, soaring agricultural product prices hav

Editor's NoteWe now live in an era where 'agflation'?the phenomenon of climate change driving up agricultural product prices?has become the norm. Every time abnormal weather events such as droughts, monsoons, and heatwaves occur, food prices fluctuate dramatically. Unpredictable weather, which leads to poor harvests, is often cited as the cause of soaring agricultural prices. This is only half true. The opaque distribution structure for agricultural products manipulates prices, using the weather as a shield. Farmers are frustrated that the crops they have carefully cultivated do not fetch fair prices in the market, while consumers are caught in a vicious cycle of paying far more than the shipping price from the production area. The Asia Business Daily has investigated the cartel-like structure hidden within agricultural product distribution, which is masked by external factors like weather, and explored alternatives to the agricultural auction system that has remained unchanged for 40

Editor's NoteWe are living in an era where "agflation"?agricultural inflation driven by climate change?has become a constant. Whenever abnormal weather events like droughts, heavy rainfall, or heatwaves occur, food prices on the table fluctuate wildly. Unpredictable weather, which leads to poor harvests, is often cited as the cause of soaring agricultural prices. This is only half true. The opaque distribution structure of agricultural products manipulates prices, using the weather as a shield. Farmers are frustrated as the crops they have painstakingly grown fail to fetch fair prices in the market, while consumers are caught in a vicious cycle of paying far more than the shipping price from the production site. The Asia Business Daily has investigated the cartel-like structure hidden within agricultural distribution under the guise of weather, and sought alternatives to the agricultural auction system that has been entrenched for 40 years. #Last year, the combined sales of the five ma

Editor's NoteWe live in an era where 'agflation'?the phenomenon of rising agricultural product prices driven by climate change?has become a constant. Every time abnormal weather events such as droughts, monsoons, or heatwaves occur, the cost of food on the table fluctuates dramatically. Unpredictable weather, which leads to poor harvests, is often cited as the main cause of soaring agricultural prices. This is only half true. The opaque distribution structure of agricultural products uses the weather as a shield to manipulate prices. Farmers are frustrated as their carefully cultivated crops fail to fetch fair prices in the market, while consumers are caught in a vicious cycle of paying significantly more than the shipping price at the point of origin. The Asia Business Daily has investigated the cartel-like distribution structure of agricultural products, hidden behind external factors like the weather, and explored alternatives to the auction system that has been entrenched for 40 ye

Editor's NoteWe now live in an era where "agflation," driven by climate change, is a constant force pushing up agricultural product prices. Every time abnormal weather such as droughts, monsoons, or heat waves occurs, the cost of food fluctuates dramatically. Unpredictable weather, which leads to poor harvests, is often cited as the cause of soaring agricultural prices. This is only half true. An opaque distribution structure for agricultural products manipulates prices, using weather as a convenient shield. Farmers are frustrated as their carefully cultivated produce fails to fetch a fair price in the market, while consumers are caught in a vicious cycle of paying far more than the shipping price from the production site. The Asia Business Daily investigates the cartel hidden within the agricultural distribution structure behind the external factor of weather, and explores alternatives to the auction system for agricultural products that has remained unchanged for 40 years. "Wo~eorie

Editor's NoteWe now live in an era where 'agflation,' driven by climate change, has become a constant factor pushing up agricultural product prices. Every time abnormal weather events such as droughts, monsoons, and heatwaves occur, food prices fluctuate wildly. Unpredictable weather, which leads to poor harvests, is often cited as the cause of soaring agricultural prices. This is only half true. The opaque distribution structure of agricultural products manipulates prices, using the weather as a shield. Farmers are frustrated as their painstakingly grown produce fails to fetch fair prices in the market, while consumers are caught in a vicious cycle of paying significantly more than the farm-gate price. The Asia Business Daily has investigated the cartel-like structure hidden within the agricultural distribution system, masked by external factors like the weather, and sought alternatives to the auction system that has been entrenched for 40 years. #On July 17 last year, during the heig