Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Announces Reform and Agenda Implementation Plan at Presidential Briefing
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has set a target of $15 billion in exports for K-Food Plus (+) next year. The ministry also announced plans to foster agriculture as a national strategic industry and to strengthen food care so that everyone can enjoy a healthy diet.
On December 11, at the Government Sejong Convention Center, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs presented its "Five Key Tasks and Three Major Reform and Agenda Items Implementation Plan" during a joint work report presided over by the President.
In the six months since the launch of the new administration, the Ministry has achieved several milestones, including the amendment of four major agricultural laws such as the Grain Management Act and the Agricultural Products Distribution and Price Stabilization Act, the recovery of rice prices during the harvest season, the early achievement of 1 trillion won in online wholesale market transactions, and record-high K-Food export performance.
The Ministry plans to focus on delivering results in five key areas: fostering agriculture as a national strategic industry to safeguard the nation's food supply; expanding the global reach of K-Food+ and promoting the digital transformation of agriculture and rural communities; a major shift in agricultural policy with increased national responsibility and the nurturing of young agricultural talent; developing rural areas as places to live, work, and relax, thereby contributing to balanced national growth; and building a society where people and animals coexist happily. In addition, the Ministry will actively address three major reform and agenda items: reforming the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, improving the farmland system, and expanding renewable energy in rural areas.
Song Miryung, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "With the launch of the public-private K-Food Export Task Force in December and tailored export strategies leveraging K-initiatives such as culture and beauty in promising markets like the Middle East and Africa, we will achieve $15 billion in K-Food+ exports by 2026." She added, "To support export companies, we will designate 30 overseas diplomatic missions as K-Food export hubs, double the agri-food export voucher program to 72 billion won, and establish a Korean-style smart farm export support center, thereby building a customized one-stop support system for exporters."
To establish a robust food security system, the Ministry is considering enacting a Food Security Act next year. The food self-sufficiency rate target will be raised to '55.5%+α' by 2030, and detailed action plans will be developed, including redefining the concept of food security, creating measurement indicators, and introducing effective means to achieve the target. In line with the implementation of the Grain Management Act in August next year, the Ministry will specify measures for adjusting rice supply and demand, such as crop conversion and post-management safeguards. Sufficient incentives will be provided for converting rice fields to other crops, and a new "supply adjustment rice" program will be introduced, allowing rice to be used for processing during normal times and for table rice in case of shortages.
The Ministry will also strengthen food care for the public. Building on the success of the "1,000 Won Breakfast for College Students" program, a new meal support initiative (breakfast or lunch) for office workers will be launched, providing 5.9 million meals with a budget of 7.9 billion won. Programs previously suspended by the former administration, such as fruit snacks for elementary students and eco-friendly produce packages for pregnant women, will be resumed. Support for nutritionally vulnerable groups will be expanded by broadening the agri-food voucher program from current recipients-households on basic livelihood support, pregnant women, infants, and children-to include young adults (from 87,000 to 160,000 households).
The Ministry will accelerate reforms in the distribution structure. The rapidly growing online wholesale market for agricultural and marine products will be further activated, targeting a transaction volume of 1.5 trillion won next year. To achieve this, the Ministry will establish a legal basis within the year, build three dedicated logistics centers, and expand the number of smart agricultural product distribution centers (APCs) to 115, thereby promoting digitalization and scaling up from production areas to consumer markets.
Next year, a pilot basic income program for rural areas will begin. The Ministry plans to implement this pilot project in 10 counties, providing local residents with a monthly regional gift certificate worth 150,000 won. Prior to the launch, the Ministry will design key elements of an objective performance evaluation study in collaboration with the National Research Council for Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences, and use the findings to set the direction for the main project. Legislation to provide a legal basis for rural basic income support is scheduled for completion in 2026.
The Ministry will also embark on a full-scale reform of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation. Fundamental improvement measures will be developed to ensure the Federation can function as a healthy cooperative for its members and for agriculture and rural communities. These measures include enhancing transparency in central fund and personnel management, strengthening internal controls such as term limits for cooperative heads, and improving governance. Additional institutional reforms will be introduced to establish democratic control by members and address oversight blind spots.
Improvements to the farmland system will be implemented in phases. In the short term, urgent issues such as permitting convenience facilities for farm work (e.g., toilets) and agrivoltaic solar power will be addressed promptly. For more contentious issues, the Ministry will seek public consensus and develop reform directions through the Special Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Affairs and its "Farmland System Advisory Group."
To expand renewable energy in rural areas, the Ministry will institutionalize agrivoltaic solar power, establish "solar income villages," and promote renewable energy production using available resources such as livestock manure. To enhance policy effectiveness, challenges such as farmer participation and protection in power generation projects, insufficient power grid capacity in solar income villages, and regulations on converting livestock manure into fuel will be addressed swiftly through inter-ministerial cooperation and stakeholder engagement. The Ministry will also identify and disseminate best practices based on next year's project operations.
Minister Song stated, "In order to realize the vision of agriculture together with the people and rural communities that bring hope, we will ensure the continuity of policies and bold innovation so that we can achieve a major transformation in agricultural policy."
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