No Premium Surcharge for Natural Disaster Damages... Disaster Insurance Act Amendment Passes National Assembly

A partial amendment to the Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Insurance Act, which stipulates that insurance premiums will not be increased for agricultural damages caused by natural disasters, passed the National Assembly plenary session on July 23.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that the amendment to the Disaster Insurance Act, which is centered on this provision, was approved at the National Assembly plenary session on this day.

The amended Disaster Insurance Act stipulates that when damages from natural disasters and similar events exceed a certain threshold?specifically, in cases of large-scale disasters that are unpredictable and unavoidable?the losses resulting from such events will be excluded from premium surcharges. This revision aims to alleviate the insurance premium burden on farming households. Over the past five years (2020?2024), the average annual surcharge amount was 25.6 billion KRW, which is 4.8% of the 2024 insurance premium support budget of 535.6 billion KRW.

On the same day, a partial amendment to the Agricultural and Fishery Disaster Countermeasures Act was also passed. The amended Countermeasures Act allows for compensation of all or part of the production costs incurred up to the time of the disaster, and enables differentiated support between insured and non-insured items, as well as between insured and non-insured farming households, to ensure that policies are designed in harmony with insurance. In addition, by setting disaster recovery support standards based on actual transaction prices, it is expected that a stronger basic safety net will be established for farming households affected by disasters compared to the current system.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to complete revisions to subordinate regulations and other related laws by preparing support levels and implementation standards through inter-ministerial consultations and research projects before the amended laws go into effect in July next year.

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Miryeong stated, "Going forward, we will communicate closely with the agricultural sector, the National Assembly, and experts to further strengthen support for farming households affected by disasters, while also ensuring that the disaster recovery and disaster insurance systems are operated in a stable and sustainable manner."