Lee Jae-myung Criticizes “Veto of Grain Management Act as Irresponsible”

On-site Farmers' Meeting Held in Naju

Hearing Vivid Voices from Agricultural Field, Decided to Re-push on the 13th

The Jeonnam Provincial Party Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea held an on-site farmers' meeting for the "Resolution to Re-promote the Grain Management Act" with party leader Lee Jae-myung at the rice seedling nursery of Noh-an Nonghyup in Naju-si at 1 p.m. on the 7th.

According to the Jeonnam Provincial Party Committee, about 200 people attended the meeting, including party leader Lee Jae-myung, Supreme Council members Jeong Cheong-rae and Song Gap-seok, Shin Jeong-hoon, Jeonnam Provincial Party Chairman (Democratic Party Rice Price Normalization TF Leader), Chief Spokesperson Kwon Chil-seung, National Assembly members Joo Cheol-hyun, Lee Hyung-seok, Lee Yong-bin, Seo Dong-yong, agricultural organizations, and local farmers.

The 'On-site Farmers' Meeting to Reaffirm the Resolution to Re-promote the Grain Management Act' was held at the rice seedling nursery of Noan Nonghyup in Naju City with Party Leader Lee Jae-myung.
[Photo by The Democratic Party of Korea Jeonnam Provincial Party]

This meeting was organized to criticize President Yoon Seok-yeol's incompetence and irresponsibility in exercising his veto on the amendment to the Grain Management Act amid various false claims and distortions, and to hear the vivid voices from the difficult rural field.

On the day, party leader Lee Jae-myung and the party leadership toured the rice seedling nursery site, embraced the harsh realities of rural areas, and officially decided to re-promote the Grain Management Act, which serves as the minimum safety net representing the desperate cries of farmers on the brink. They also took time to listen to various opinions and demands from the field to save the crisis-stricken rural areas and agriculture.

Party leader Lee Jae-myung said, "Rice is life, so with the heavy and urgent responsibility that gathers the expectations of the people, we will re-vote on the Grain Management Act," and added, "We will listen carefully to every voice from the rural field and seek reasonable solutions to do our best to ensure the bill passes."

He continued, "I am deeply angered by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's behavior of politically using the president's veto as a tool, holding farmers' livelihoods hostage," and stated, "Rice is not a declining industry but a security and strategic industry, so we will fight to the end for the income stabilization of farmers."

Shin Jeong-hoon, Provincial Party Chairman (Rice Price Normalization TF Leader), criticized the ruling party's attitude of not negotiating at all during the legislative process, saying, "The people will never forgive President Yoon Seok-yeol, who ignored the desperate hearts of farmers and vetoed the livelihood bill, the Grain Management Act," and argued, "The government and ruling party distort this bill as the 'forced purchase law for surplus rice,' but this bill is the 'surplus rice prevention law' that protects farmers."

A farmer representative attending the site said, "Many farmers earnestly hoped for the enactment of the amendment to the Grain Management Act, but the Yoon Seok-yeol government abandoned even the minimum responsibility for rice," and expressed hope that "the bill will definitely be re-promoted and that the government will save agriculture and farmers."

The attendees criticized the government as pathetic, saying, "They buy sea squirts from Fukushima, Japan, but refuse to buy our rice," and strongly expressed dissatisfaction with the current government, which uses rice, the staple food of the people, as a political tool and shirks responsibility.

A Democratic Party official raised their voice, saying, "In a Gallup poll conducted from the 4th to the 6th, 60% of the public supported the amendment to the Grain Management Act. The president's exercise of the veto is a disregard for the people, a declaration of giving up farmers' right to survival and food sovereignty, and goes against public opinion."

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has decided to hold a re-vote on the presidential veto of the Grain Management Act at the National Assembly plenary session on the 13th.