Prime Minister Han on 'Rice Prices Are Farmers' Lifeline' Criticism: "Yoon Has Made Consistent Requests"

"Return to the Variable Direct Payment System Is Not Desirable"

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is attending the plenary session on the economic sector held at the National Assembly on the 21st, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Prime Minister Han Duck-soo stated on the 21st regarding measures to respond to the decline in rice prices, "Recently, President Yoon Seok-yeol spoke about the difficulties faced by farmers and also made certain requests."

In response to a question from Lee Won-taek, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, during the National Assembly's economic sector government questioning session?who asked, "How much more must rice prices fall? How many more tears must farmers shed? The price of rice for farmers is a matter of life and death"?Prime Minister Han replied, "It does not seem appropriate to disclose what was discussed with the President," and made the above statement.

Regarding the remark that "farmers are requesting to return to the direct payment system," Prime Minister Han said, "Farmers have endured difficulties with great effort, and the government has also worked hard to establish the current system, so returning to the old system is not desirable." He added, "I am concerned that letting prices deviate too far from supply and demand might not truly help the people we are trying to assist."

When Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Soo-heung asked whether he agrees with the Democratic Party's proposed amendment to the Grain Management Act under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, Prime Minister Han stated, "It requires very careful consideration whether it is appropriate to handle this through legislation."

In response to a demand to "establish permanent measures," Prime Minister Han said, "Yes," but also added, "However, I believe that a permanent system should not become a rigid system."

When asked about the cause of the rice price collapse, Prime Minister Han said, "The most important factor is that demand has significantly decreased, and I also think this year’s bumper harvest is a reason."

When lawmaker Kim questioned, "Farmers work hard to harvest abundantly and achieve a bumper crop to supply food to the people, but does the government leave the surplus production to the market?" Prime Minister Han replied, "This issue is not new; it has been recognized as a problem for a long time."

Prime Minister Han stated, "This issue is not something we can address solely through domestic measures, as it involves an important part of the international trade order. Taking that into account, we are making every effort to resolve the difficulties and protect the interests of our farmers."

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