李 "Basic Income of 1 Million Won for Farmers and Fishermen vs 尹 "Agricultural Direct Payment of 5 Million Won""

Lee, Reducing Urban and Income Gaps
Yoon, Doubling Scale with 5 Trillion Budget
Criticism of Repeated Populist Promises

[Asia Economy reporters Hyunju Lee and Jinyoung Jeon] Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, both announced rural campaign pledges on the 25th that include providing basic income and direct payments. Despite controversies over excessive spending, populist pledges are being repeated.

On the same day, Lee pledged at the Agricultural Technology Center in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, to implement a ‘rural basic income’ that provides 1 million KRW per farmer and fisherman. He also promised to increase the basic allowance paid to village chiefs by 200,000 KRW and the allowance for community account holders by 100,000 KRW. Lee explained the purpose of the pledge, saying, "By providing rural basic income, we will reduce the income gap with urban areas and prevent the disappearance of rural communities." Previously, in 2019, the Democratic Party raised the basic allowance paid to village chiefs and community account holders from 200,000 KRW to within 300,000 KRW per month. At that time, opposition parties criticized it as a "populist policy for the general election." Lee also pledged to expand the budget for the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries sector to 5% of the national budget, aiming to make rural areas facing extinction into hubs of balanced development.

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is announcing agricultural pledges at the Pocheon Agricultural Technology Center in Gyeonggi Province on the 25th. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

Yoon held a press conference at his party headquarters in the morning and announced plans to double the current agricultural direct payment budget from 2.5 trillion KRW to 5 trillion KRW. Through this, the average direct payment per farm household will be raised from the current level of 2.5 million KRW to 5 million KRW. He also announced the introduction of a ‘retirement direct payment for farmland transfer’ targeting elderly small and medium farmers, which will provide a monthly direct payment of 500,000 KRW for up to 10 years. There are criticisms that this retirement direct payment is not significantly different from the existing ‘farmland pension’ system. Additionally, Yoon plans to improve the public direct payment system so that any farmer actively engaged in farming can receive direct payments.

Lee promised to prohibit indiscriminate farmland conversion to prevent farmland speculation. He also pledged to implement a full survey of farmland status and continuous monitoring to eradicate farmland speculation. Other pledges include introducing an emergency meal care system for vulnerable groups and implementing a complete labeling system for genetically modified organisms (GMO).

Yoon Seok-yeol, People Power Party Presidential Candidate / Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Yoon, who has high support among the 2030 generation, also proposed a pledge to nurture young farmers. This includes introducing a young farmer direct payment system and establishing a dedicated organization within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to foster young farmers. He also plans to expand the support limit and repayment period for agricultural management funds. By lowering interest rates on agricultural policy funds, he aims to ease the financial burden on agriculture and support the price difference caused by the increase in mineral fertilizer prices.

To address the shortage of rural labor, Lee plans to introduce a public seasonal worker system and enact the Agricultural Workforce Support Act, while Yoon intends to employ foreign workers through rural workforce brokerage centers to supply farms. Support will also be provided for foreign workers’ accommodation, insurance, and transportation.

Other pledges from the candidates include ▲reducing agricultural carbon emissions ▲strengthening agricultural safety insurance to the level of industrial accident insurance ▲promoting advanced agriculture ▲introducing a village doctor system ▲expanding mobile home visits ▲and modernizing agricultural and fishery product markets.