"Farmers' Sacrifice Underlies 600 Million Won Bonuses per Person," Farmers' Group Protests

Jeonnong Urges Legalization of Trade Benefit Sharing System

and Introduction of Excess Profit Tax

The Korean Peasants League is holding a press conference on May 13 in front of the Blue House, urging measures to address the plummeting prices of agricultural products. The Korean Peasants League

The National Peasants' Federation (Jeonnong) has criticized the "excess profit monopoly structure" of large corporations amid the postponement of the general strike and a tentative agreement between labor and management at Samsung Electronics. The organization is calling for the legalization of the "Trade Benefit Sharing System" and the introduction of an "excess profit tax."

On May 21, Jeonnong issued a statement asserting, "The tentative agreement between labor and management at Samsung Electronics is merely distribution within the confines of a large corporation," and claimed, "The sacrifices of farmers lie beneath the tens of trillions of won in performance bonuses enjoyed by major companies." Jeonnong specifically pointed out, "Samsung Electronics' projected operating profit for this year is 300 trillion won, and the performance bonus pool alone amounts to 31.5 trillion won." They continued, "While individual bonuses are reportedly as high as 600 million won and at minimum 160 million won, farmers are facing a crisis of survival due to the disposal of produce in production areas and plummeting prices." Jeonnong also emphasized, "Each time export channels are opened for large companies, the agricultural market is sacrificed." They further claimed, "This year alone, indiscriminate imports of agricultural products—ostensibly for price stabilization—have led to the fifth round of produce disposal in production areas."

Jeonnong also stated, "To support semiconductor plants in the Seoul metropolitan area, large-scale transmission towers are being installed in rural regions outside the capital, and even during droughts, industrial water takes priority." The group argued, "Expansion of solar power to achieve RE100 (100% renewable energy) export certifications is encroaching on farmland." Jeonnong also criticized the effective abandonment of the "Trade Benefit Sharing System," which had been discussed during the Korea-U.S. and Korea-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. They said, "At the time, farmers demanded legislation to share a portion of export companies' profits with affected farming households, and companies expressed willingness to participate. However, after the FTAs were signed, backlash from the business community led to the retreat of the system." Jeonnong added, "In 2017, the system was reduced to the non-binding Agricultural and Fishing Villages Win-Win Cooperation Fund, with a target of raising 1 trillion won over 10 years, but only about 300 billion won has been raised so far." They criticized, "Large corporations that spend tens of trillions of won on performance bonuses at once have been stingy when it comes to contributing to funds supporting farmers."

Jeonnong has called on the government and the National Assembly to: ▲ fully re-legislate the Trade Benefit Sharing System; ▲ introduce an excess profit tax; ▲ prevent the expropriation of rural land and water resources; and ▲ establish a new fund to guarantee agricultural production costs. Jeonnong stressed, "We should not rely solely on the voluntary goodwill of corporations; the government must establish institutional mechanisms to directly recirculate excess profits." They emphasized, "The excess profits of export-oriented conglomerates must be forcibly reclaimed and allocated as resources to protect rural communities and food sovereignty."

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