Gyeongnam Nonghyup and Gyeongnam Province Launch 'University Students United for Rural Harvest Support'

4 Universities and 1 Volunteer Group with About 300 Members in Gyeongnam
Supporting Persimmon Harvesting in Jinju Area

On the 9th, Gyeongnam Nonghyup and Gyeongsangnam-do visited persimmon farms in Myeongseok-myeon, Jinju City, along with four universities located in Gyeongnam (Gyeongsang National University, Changwon National University, Changshin University, Gaya University) and one volunteer group (Jinju University Student Union Volunteer Group ‘Withus’) to assist with farm labor during the persimmon harvest season.

Gyeongnam Nonghyup Holds 'University Students United for Rural Labor Support Day' for Harvest Season.

This ‘University Students United Rural Labor Support Day’ event was held for the first time under the auspices of Gyeongnam Nonghyup to publicly promote the existing activities of university students and to encourage participation from more universities in the future.

The event was attended by approximately 300 people, including Lee Won-geun, President of Changshin University; Seong Heung-taek, Director of Agricultural Policy at Gyeongsangnam-do; Lee Chang-hoon, Deputy Head of Gyeongnam Nonghyup; Kim Jeong-gu, Head of Nonghyup Jinju Branch; Ryu Jae-su, Chairman of Jinju Western Nonghyup; Park Hyun-soo, Executive Director of Jinju Northern Nonghyup; as well as students from the four universities and one volunteer group. This is the largest single event of university student rural labor support conducted by Gyeongnam Nonghyup to date.

The university student rural labor support, linked with Gyeongsangnam-do’s “University Student Rural Workforce Support Group” project and the “Urban-Rural Win-Win University Student Rural Labor Support Activation” project by the National Movement Headquarters for Urban-Rural Win-Win, saw participation of about 700 students in 2022, 1,012 in 2023, and 885 students up to the end of October this year. To facilitate smooth activities, support has been provided for bus rental fees, meal and snack expenses, and purchase of work tools.

Additionally, Nonghyup has been donating a certain amount of university development support funds to participating universities, delivering 28.4 million KRW to two universities in 2023.

Jo Geun-su, Head of Gyeongnam Nonghyup Headquarters, said, “It is a precious act that university students from Gyeongnam continuously volunteer in rural areas during the labor-short harvest season, bringing hope to agriculture and rural communities. Gyeongnam Nonghyup will continue to provide generous support for university students’ rural volunteer activities.”

Seong Heung-taek, Director of Agricultural Policy at Gyeongsangnam-do, stated, “University students’ volunteer activities are greatly helping to alleviate the labor shortage in agriculture and rural areas. We will spare no administrative and financial support to encourage more active participation in rural volunteer activities by private sectors such as companies, organizations, and university students in the future.”