Nodongjin, Suhyup Chairman: "18 Billion Won Support to the Union... Improving Fishermen's Real Income"

Explanation of Next Year's Business Plan and Budget Allocation Direction at Press Conference

Labor Jin, Chairman of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives, announced on the 29th, "Next year's budget for cooperative fund support will be nearly doubled from this year to 180 billion KRW, prioritizing support for financially vulnerable cooperatives."

On the same day, Chairman Labor held a press briefing in Sejong City to explain the major business plans for next year and the response directions to fisheries issues. He emphasized, "Through this, we will lead the improvement of cooperative management and ensure that the profits benefit the fishermen."

Regarding the budget direction for next year, Chairman Labor said, "Due to uncertain economic conditions, next year's fisheries management will also be challenging. Even in this situation, we will strengthen support at the central federation level to ensure warmth reaches vulnerable cooperatives and fishermen first."

Nodongjin, President of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives

This is interpreted as his intention to continue the policy he announced upon taking office in March to "restructure the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives as an organization that prioritizes support for cooperatives and fishermen over profits" next year as well.

The National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives plans to provide 133 billion KRW in interest-free funds to stabilize cooperative management in preparation for increased risks of insolvency due to high interest rates and a slowdown in the real estate market. Including 33 billion KRW in business funds for fishermen support, the total support amount is set at 180 billion KRW, increasing the support funds by 80 billion KRW compared to this year.

Chairman Labor also expressed his intention to improve the tax system in the fisheries sector, which has a lower tax exemption limit compared to agriculture, to lead to an increase in the actual income of fishermen. To this end, he plans to seek cooperation from the government and the National Assembly.

Under the current income law, agriculture receives full tax exemption benefits for income from food crop cultivation, whereas fishing and aquaculture have income tax exemption limits of 50 million KRW and 30 million KRW, respectively.

He pointed out the enactment of the "Special Act on Offshore Wind Power Planned Sites," a system improvement led by the state to discover locations, as the most urgent fisheries system improvement issue. Chairman Labor stated, "We will devote ourselves to ensuring the bill passes in the 21st National Assembly."

Regarding the consumption trends of seafood following the Fukushima nuclear power plant issue, he said, "It is fortunate that seafood consumption has been active without significant deviation since the start of discharge," but added, "Since public anxiety about seafood safety has not been completely resolved, we will continue projects next year to restore seafood consumption sentiment and promote consumption."

He continued, "To expand the base of seafood consumption, it is essential to discover demand through dietary education targeting children and adolescents," adding, "We will develop content such as comics and educational materials using seafood to build a future foundation for seafood consumption."

Regarding the opening of "complex branches" where mutual finance and banks can operate in the same space, he said, "This can be a good means for cooperatives located in difficult local areas to enter the metropolitan area and generate new revenue," and added, "Since such revenue leads to increased dividends and welfare for fishermen, we will continue to open new complex branches."

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