Lee Jae-myung "Considering Introduction of Basic Rural Income... Need to Increase Direct Support"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed his intention to consider the introduction of a Rural Basic Income. The Rural Basic Income is a policy that Lee promoted during his tenure as governor of Gyeonggi Province, aimed at revitalizing the rural economy, which faces the risk of regional extinction, by providing basic income to local residents.

On the 12th, to mark the 26th Agricultural Day, Lee held a private meeting with leaders of agricultural organizations and expressed this intention.

He said, “Agriculture is the core of balanced development, and the country thrives only if the countryside thrives. We will actively consider introducing this as a measure to bring people back to rural areas and help farmers live better lives.”

He continued, “We need to review the current agricultural budget and increase the amount of direct payments to many farmers. Although the structure of the agricultural budget has been partially improved through the public interest-type direct payment system, its proportion should be further increased.” The public interest-type direct payment system is a policy where the government directly supports each farm with a promised amount to small-scale farms to increase income and alleviate rice oversupply.

He also proposed expanding support for young farmers. Lee said, “Currently, young farmers receive settlement support for three years, but that is not enough. In Japan, support lasts about seven years, and three years is only like a training period. To help young people settle properly, we need to extend the support period as well.”

The attendees agreed that the public nature of agriculture should be significantly expanded through infrastructure expansion to improve farmers’ quality of life and eradication of illegal farmland speculation.

Park Heung-sik, chairman of the National Farmers Federation, suggested, “To create rural villages where children can live well and people return, social services must be dramatically strengthened through infrastructure expansion.”

Lee Hak-gu, chairman of the Korea Agricultural Management Association, said, “Problems such as farm income and rural extinction have worsened due to scale-focused agricultural policies driven by agricultural product liberalization. To fundamentally solve these issues, it is necessary to guarantee and maintain the agricultural budget’s share of government spending at around 4%.”

Lee Eun-man, chairman of the Korea Rice Farmers Central Association, appealed, “In the era of climate crisis, changes in agriculture are required for food security and carbon neutrality. Agriculture must be accepted as a public industry both nationally and socially.”

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