Ruling Party: "Amendment to the Grain Act Will Lead to Long-Term Rice Price Decline... Will Persuade Opposition" (Comprehensive)

'Government's Proactive Efforts' to Be Specified in Law
Democrats Plan to Push Through

Sung Il-jong, Chairman of the Policy Committee of the People Power Party, is attending the party-government consultation meeting on the Grain Management Act held at the National Assembly on the 18th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy reporters Hyunju Lee and Hyunji Kwon] On the 18th, the People Power Party held a party-government consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and requested the government to actively promote various measures to stabilize rice prices, including reducing the rice cultivation area. Since the Democratic Party of Korea decided to pass the amendment to the Grain Management Act at the full meeting of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee on the 19th, they also decided to simultaneously carry out persuasion efforts toward the opposition party.

Seong Il-jong, chairman of the People Power Party Policy Committee, said at a briefing after the party-government consultation related to the Grain Management Act on the same day, "The government and the ruling party agreed that the amendment to the Grain Management Act could deepen the oversupply structure of rice, increase fiscal burdens, and negatively affect the future development of agriculture."

Chairman Seong said, "We agreed that by cultivating crops other than rice, the rice cultivation area should be reduced, and the budget related to this should be expanded to help the practical development of agriculture and farmers' income," adding, "There is still time, so we agreed to negotiate with the Democratic Party with various measures to guarantee farmers' actual income."

The Democratic Party has decided to push forward with the bill. Lee Su-jin, the Democratic Party floor spokesperson, told reporters after the National Assembly audit countermeasure meeting on the same day, "We will hold a full meeting of the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee on the 19th to process the amendment to the Grain Management Act."

The People Power Party intends to persuade the Democratic Party again. Chairman Seong pointed out, "There have been bad precedents such as the '검수완박' (complete prosecution reform), the three lease laws, and the Corruption Investigation Office Act, and in the long term, the amendment to the Grain Management Act will not help farmers." It was reported that Chairman Seong requested a meeting with Kim Seong-hwan, chairman of the Democratic Party Policy Committee, on the same day.

At the party-government consultation, opinions were also presented to persuade the opposition party based on measures such as including a clause in the law stating that "the government will make proactive efforts to stabilize rice prices" and research results showing that mandatory rice purchase measures do not significantly help support rice prices.

Regarding this, Chairman Seong said, "If stable rice prices are guaranteed, farmers may welcome it, but there are market limitations," adding, "According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' research report, rice prices do not rise even with purchases," and "Japan has been experiencing this problem for 30 years. In the long term, rice prices decline, so I requested that the government explain this to Democratic Party lawmakers."

If the bill passes the full meeting of the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, it will undergo a systematic and legal review by the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee. However, since there are limits even if the bill's submission is blocked, it is expected that the president will eventually exercise the veto power. When asked whether they would recommend the president to exercise the veto, Chairman Seong said, "Negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties remain, and it is not the stage to discuss that yet."

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