Moon Geumju: "Doing My Best to Increase Farmers' and Fishermen's Income and Stabilize Livelihoods"

Moon Proposes Amendments to Three Key Laws
Aimed at Enhancing Income and Stability for Farmers and Fishermen

Geumju Moon, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Geumju Moon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Goheung, Boseong, Jangheung, and Gangjin in South Jeolla Province, announced on the 28th that he has sponsored amendments to three laws aimed at increasing the income and stabilizing the livelihoods of farmers and fishermen. These are the “Act on the Operation of Direct Payment System for Enhancing Public Functions of Agriculture and Rural Communities” (hereinafter referred to as the Public Direct Payment Act), the “Restriction of Special Taxation Act” (hereinafter referred to as the Special Taxation Restriction Act), and the “Act on the Promotion of Purchase of Green Products” (hereinafter referred to as the Green Product Promotion Act).

Under the current Public Direct Payment Act, the government provides basic public direct payments to farmers whose annual total income is 37 million won or less. However, there have been criticisms that the 37 million won threshold, which has remained unchanged since the system was introduced in 2009, does not reflect changes in the economic environment and income levels. The proposed amendment requires the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to announce the threshold every five years, taking into account the results of the Statistics Korea Household Income and Expenditure Survey. It also stipulates that income from agrivoltaic solar power projects will be excluded from the total income calculation.

The current Green Product Promotion Act mandates public institutions to purchase low-carbon and eco-friendly products. However, as green product certification has mainly focused on industrial goods, agricultural products have been excluded from the list of eligible items. The amendment seeks to include low-carbon and eco-friendly agricultural products as green products in order to encourage their consumption.

The proposed amendment to the Special Taxation Restriction Act adds a provision for non-taxation, without an expiration date, on support payments for the scrapping of coastal and offshore fishing vessels (business closure support payments).

Moon emphasized, “I continue to communicate with farming and fishing communities to represent the interests of farmers and fishermen, including increasing their income and stabilizing their livelihoods. Through this communication, I will do my best to represent the realities of rural communities and the lives of farmers and fishermen, and to protect their rights and interests.”

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