Kim Min-seok "Yoon, who opposed the Grain Management Act, does he have any alternative to the rice price collapse?"

Regarding the amendment to the Grain Management Act, which was processed under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, and President Yoon Suk-yeol's veto exercised the day before, Kim Min-seok, a Democratic Party lawmaker and chairman of the Policy Committee, criticized, saying, "The government is only opposing without any alternatives while failing to prevent the current price collapse."

On the 5th, Kim said on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' that "this law is not the outrageous law the president talks about."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The day before, President Yoon, in his remarks at the Cabinet meeting, directly criticized the amendment to the Grain Management Act, saying, "(The amendment) is a typical populist bill that goes against the agricultural policy goals of increasing agricultural productivity and farmers' income and does not help farmers and rural development at all," and exercised his veto.

In response, Kim said, "It is about production adjustment to prevent surplus and stabilize prices, and if there is still surplus, to allow purchase as a last resort. The original emphasis is on production adjustment," adding, "Until the previous Moon Jae-in administration, production adjustment was done well, so prices were maintained, and there was no problem. But if the government is currently failing to prevent price collapse, it should come up with alternatives, but it is just opposing without any alternatives."

With the president exercising the veto, the ball is back in the National Assembly. Re-deliberation requires a quorum of more than half and a two-thirds majority of attending members, so if the People Power Party opposes, it will be difficult to push forward. Kim said, "There are lawmakers who cannot ignore the farmers' positions," and "if lawmakers truly vote freely, putting their faces and names on the line, I believe re-deliberation is actually possible."

He expects defections from People Power Party lawmakers in rural areas during the anonymous re-deliberation vote.

There is also a scenario that the Democratic Party will revise the bill and pass it through the National Assembly as new legislation. Kim said, "We are in a position where we need to make some judgment on this issue," adding, "The veto is unreasonable and a kind of obstruction, so it is a priority to take a little more time, inform the public about this situation, have discussions, and then proceed with re-deliberation."

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