Agriculture Minister Song Mi-ryeong: "'Grain Management Act and Agricultural Security Act Amendments Are Part of the Four Agricultural Laws... Will Ruin the Future of Agriculture'"

Song Miryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, clearly opposed four bills partially amending the Grain Management Act, the Act on Distribution and Price Stabilization of Agricultural and Fishery Products, the Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Insurance Act, and the Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Countermeasures Act, which were passed solely by the opposition party at the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee on the 21st. Minister Song labeled these bills as the 'Nongmang 4 Laws' and 'disaster level,' hinting at a request for the President's veto should they pass the plenary session.

On the 25th, Minister Song held a press conference at the Government Complex Sejong, emphasizing that these are "laws that destroy the future of agriculture and are impossible to enforce."

Song Mi-ryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, held a press briefing at the Government Sejong Complex on the 25th, expressing her position on four laws, including the amended Grain Management Act approved by the National Assembly's Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, and Maritime Affairs Committee.

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On the 21st, the opposition party unilaterally processed four bills at the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, including amendments to the Grain Management Act, the Agricultural and Fishery Product Price Stabilization Act, the Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Insurance Act, and the Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Countermeasures Act. Regarding this, Minister Song stated, "The main content of the amended Grain Management Act passed by the committee is to introduce a 'Grain Price Stabilization System' where the government is obligated to purchase surplus rice and pay the difference if the market price of grain falls below the average price." He expressed concerns that "the amendment could further entrench the structural oversupply of rice, continuously lowering rice prices and causing enormous fiscal burdens." He added, "It will block the transition to cultivating other crops instead of rice, thus failing to fundamentally solve the oversupply of rice."

He pointed out that if the amendment to the Agricultural and Fishery Product Price Stabilization Act, which introduces a minimum price guarantee system for major agricultural products, is implemented, it could cause a vicious cycle of 'overconcentration on specific crops → oversupply → price drop → government compensation.' He warned that this would result in massive fiscal burdens and increased price volatility of agricultural products, thereby intensifying the management burden on farms and the consumer price burden. Additionally, he criticized the amendment to the Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Insurance Act, which excludes surcharge application for damages caused by natural disasters when calculating insurance rates, as problematic in terms of fairness and sustainability.

Minister Song plans to recommend the President exercise the veto power if the four bills pass the plenary session. He said, "The four amendments, including the Grain Management Act and the Agricultural and Fishery Product Price Stabilization Act, are laws that ruin the future of agriculture, making it difficult to weigh their severity. I will explain the problems as much as possible to prevent these amendments from reaching the plenary session, but unfortunately, if such a situation occurs, as a minister, I have no choice but to take the same stance as before (recommend veto)."

The government has opposed these four bills, including the Grain Management Act, pointing out their problems as pushed by the opposition party. Furthermore, to avoid repetitive and wasteful disputes such as 'opposition party's forced passage of bills → President's request for reconsideration → bill repeal,' the government formed a public-private-academic consultative body and prepared alternatives, including the 'Korean-style Agricultural Income and Management Safety Net Establishment Plan' scheduled for September this year.

Minister Song said, "From the farmers' perspective, it might seem good if the government buys all the surplus rice now, but looking one step further, no one will want to cultivate rice, leading to more rice and further price drops. If this cycle repeats, there is no future for our agriculture." He added, "To break this cycle, we will announce fundamental measures for the rice industry within this year, including reducing rice cultivation areas, shifting to qualitative-centered rice production, and expanding consumption of processed rice products."

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