Representative Yoon Jae-gap's Bill on Forestry Direct Payment System Passed the National Assembly Plenary Session

The Forestry Direct Payment Act Repeatedly Proposed, Pending, and Discarded in the National Assembly Since 2017

Expected to Benefit 28,000 Forestry Workers with 1.2 Million KRW Annually

Democratic Party of Korea National Assembly member Yoon Jae-gap (Haenam·Wando·Jindo) ⓒ Asia Economy

[Haenam＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] The 'Forestry Direct Payment Act,' sponsored by National Assembly member Yoon Jae-gap (Democratic Party, Haenam·Wando·Jindo) of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Maritime Affairs Committee, passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 11th.

Forests create public value worth 221 trillion KRW annually through disaster prevention, biodiversity conservation, and carbon dioxide absorption and storage, benefiting approximately 4.28 million KRW per citizen.

However, forestry household income is 37.11 million KRW, which is lower compared to agricultural households (45.03 million KRW) and fishing households (53.19 million KRW), highlighting the need to establish an income safety net for forestry workers who use forests as production means to ensure the sustainability of forests.

Additionally, while the agricultural and fisheries sectors have recently undergone a comprehensive reform and expansion of the direct payment system into a public interest direct payment system to strengthen public functions, the forestry sector has not yet established a separate public interest direct payment system. Therefore, the introduction of a forestry direct payment system was urgent from an equity perspective.

Representative Yoon Jae-gap stated, “Although the Forestry Direct Payment Act passed today in the National Assembly plenary session stipulates that payments are only for forest product producers and silviculture, the scope of recipients should be expanded in the future to benefit more forestry workers.” He added, “I will continue to listen to voices from the field and devote myself to proposing laws that provide concrete help to the lives of agricultural, forestry, and fishery workers.”

Haenam=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun kh0424@asiae.co.kr

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.