President Lee: "Agriculture Is a Strategic Security Industry... Agricultural Subsidies Must Increase to Support Farmers"

President Lee Jae-myung stated yesterday (July 18) that "agriculture is a vital strategic security industry," adding, "To protect food security and revitalize rural areas, agriculture, and farmers, we must increase agricultural subsidies."

President Lee shared this message on his social media, along with a post by Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung titled, "South Korea's agricultural subsidies are lower compared to other advanced agricultural nations."

In her post, Minister Song noted that as of last year, the average agricultural subsidy per farm household in South Korea was 5.19 million won, which is lower than the 25.8 million won in the European Union (as of 2023) and 9.67 million won in Japan (as of 2024).

In response, President Lee emphasized, "With the revitalization of the stock market, the special tax for rural development is surging, providing sufficient financial resources." He added, "While market opening is inevitable for an open trading nation to pioneer new markets, it is also crucial to provide support to sectors affected by such policies to ensure there are no actual losses."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.