NongHyup Central Association President Election D-1... Three-Way Contest in 'Direct Election'

Kang Ho-dong, Jo Deok-hyun, Song Young-jo Three-Way Race
Runoff Vote If No Candidate Wins Majority

The election for the President of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF), conducted by direct voting for the first time in 17 years, is just one day away. Among the seven candidates, a three-way race is expected between Kang Hodong, head of Hapcheon Yulgok Agricultural Cooperative in Gyeongnam, Jo Deokhyun, head of Dongcheon Agricultural Cooperative in Cheonan, and Song Youngjo, head of Geumjeong Agricultural Cooperative in Busan.

According to NACF, the "25th NACF President Election" will be held on the 25th at the main auditorium of the NACF headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. This presidential election is the first to be conducted by direct voting since 2007. There are seven candidates. Initially, eight candidates registered, but on the 22nd, Choi Seonghwan, head of Bukyeong Horticultural Agricultural Cooperative, withdrew, reducing the number of candidates to seven.

Kang, considered one of the "top three candidates," is a five-term cooperative head; Jo is a three-term head; and Song is a six-term head. Kang emphasizes a "New Republic of Korea NACF" and has pledged to ▲ strengthen the salary, status, and rights of cooperative heads ▲ foster competitive regional agricultural and livestock cooperatives through revitalization of economic projects ▲ early independence of mutual finance for profit generation (additional special account settlement of 1 trillion won) ▲ zero burden on agricultural and livestock cooperatives when NACF provides financial support ▲ transfer the economic holding company to NACF ▲ expand cooperative share participation in affiliates and transfer competitive businesses to agricultural and livestock cooperatives.

From the left, Kang Ho-dong, Chairman of Hapcheon Yulgok Nonghyup, Gyeongnam; Song Young-jo, Chairman of Geumjeong Nonghyup, Busan; Jo Deok-hyun, Chairman of Dongcheonan Nonghyup

Jo pledges to "return the NACF to the agricultural and livestock cooperatives," including transferring 50% of the management rights of NACF’s economic affiliates to cooperative heads and establishing an economic vice president position for cooperative heads. Additionally, he plans to ease farmers' management burdens by introducing a Korean-style price loss compensation system and improving the vegetable price stabilization system. Song also promises that cooperative heads’ salaries will be decided by the board of directors and maintained at the highest level within the cooperative, along with pledges to ▲ abolish term limits for cooperative heads ▲ integrate NACF and the economic holding company ▲ expand urban-rural exchanges ▲ promote welfare for farmers.

The election involves 1,111 cooperative heads from regional agricultural cooperatives, regional livestock cooperatives, and product cooperatives nationwide. However, cooperative heads of cooperatives with more than 3,000 members (141 cooperatives) have two votes each, making the total number of votes 1,252. The voter distribution is as follows: Gyeongbuk (14.4%), Gyeonggi (14%), Jeonnam (13%), Chungnam (12.7%), Gyeongnam (12%), Jeonbuk (8.6%), Gangwon (6.6%), Chungbuk (6%), Jeju (2.8%), Seoul (1.6%), Daegu (1.6%), Ulsan (1.4%), Incheon (1.5%), Busan (1.2%), Gwangju (1.2%), Daejeon (1.1%), etc. The combined votes from Gyeongsang, Jeolla, and Chungcheong provinces account for 66.7% of the total.

On the day of voting, candidates will attend the general meeting to deliver their final statements. Then, the first round of voting will take place. If a candidate receives a majority of votes, they will be declared the winner. If not, a runoff election between the top two candidates from the first round will determine the winner.

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