Government and ruling party decide to purchase an additional 126,000 tons of rice... "Must prevent rice price decline"

Kim Seong-hwan, Chairman of the Policy Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, is delivering opening remarks at the rice market isolation party-government consultation held at the National Assembly on the 27th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

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[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The ruling party and the government have decided to purchase an additional 126,000 tons of rice in response to the decline in rice prices.

Kim Seong-hwan, the Policy Committee Chair of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated to reporters after a party-government meeting held at the National Assembly on the 27th, "In May, we decided to purchase an additional 126,000 tons to prevent the decline in rice prices in the market."

He explained, "Last year, there was an oversupply of 270,000 tons of rice, so we initially decided to isolate 200,000 tons, but only 144,000 tons were actually purchased, so the oversupply in the market continued. Because of this, the rice prices at the production sites dropped significantly, so we concluded the party-government meeting with the decision to purchase the remaining 126,000 tons that were not bought out of the original 270,000 tons target."

He added, "Since this is a transitional period of regime change, making policy decisions is not easy in many ways. The Moon Jae-in administration made this decision to prevent the decline in rice prices, considering the various difficulties faced by farmers until the very end."

On the same day, Kim Hyun-soo, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, emphasized, "Despite the first market isolation, there is still a large stock of rice at production sites, and due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, rice consumption has decreased, causing a continued decline in rice prices. Especially, as the decline in rice prices at production sites has recently widened, additional measures are necessary to stabilize the market."

The purchase deadline was set within May. Lee Won-taek, a Democratic Party lawmaker from the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, explained, "Typically, it will take about a month of preparation."

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