Heads of Agricultural Cooperatives Visit National Assembly: "Immediately Stop Government Intervention"

Farmers' Joint Declaration Ceremony to Protect the Autonomy of the Agricultural Cooperative Federation
"Opposing the Forcible Amendment of the Agricultural Cooperative Act Without Sufficient Discussion"

This time, heads of agricultural cooperatives and farmers visited the National Assembly and issued a "Joint Declaration by Farmers" opposing the government's proposed amendment to the Agricultural Cooperative Act.

On the 28th, the Emergency Response Committee on the Amendment to the Agricultural Cooperative Act announced that about 500 heads of agricultural cooperatives and farmers from across the country held the "Farmers' Joint Declaration Ceremony to Protect the Autonomy of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation" at the National Assembly. Previously, on the 21st, the committee had also held a resolution rally in Yeouido.

Farmers and heads of agricultural cooperatives nationwide gathered on the 28th in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, holding the "Farmers' Joint Declaration to Protect Agricultural Cooperative Autonomy" and shouting slogans urging the protection of agricultural cooperative autonomy. Emergency Response Committee

A representative of the Emergency Response Committee emphasized, "Despite the farmers' resolution rally on the 21st, which drew 20,000 farmer cooperative members, the government is aggressively pushing forward the amendment to the Agricultural Cooperative Act without sufficient discussion. This amendment includes highly contentious issues such as changing the direct election system for the chairman of the federation and establishing an audit committee for the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation." The representative also pointed out, "The regional briefings on the Agricultural Cooperative Act held on the 22nd (in Daegu) and the 24th (in Cheongju and Suwon) ended without any significant results, as they failed to adequately reflect the opinions of the heads of agricultural cooperatives and farmer organizations who participated."

At the declaration ceremony, participants made five demands to the National Assembly regarding the government's proposed amendment to the Agricultural Cooperative Act: ▲ immediate cessation of government intervention that undermines the autonomy of the Agricultural Cooperative Federation, ▲ removal of toxic clauses that threaten legal stability, ▲ preservation of the cooperative's identity by maintaining the right to guide and supervise subsidiaries, ▲ withdrawal of plans to establish inefficient audit bodies, and ▲ cessation of attempts to change the direct election system for the federation chairman. Major agricultural organizations from across the country also participated in the joint declaration ceremony and issued solidarity statements.

Park Kyung-sik, chair of the Emergency Response Committee, stated, "Institutional reforms should come through sufficient discussion and public debate, not by rushing legislation," and called on the National Assembly to "balance the views of farmers, Agricultural Cooperative Federation members, and farmer organizations, and reflect the perspectives of all stakeholders."

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