Lee Byeong-gi, the former Vice Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, who played a pivotal role in the development of 400,000 hectares of reclaimed farmland along the southwestern coast, has died at the age of 87.
According to Yonhap News on May 30, Lee's family reported that he passed away at 10:20 a.m. that day.
During his tenure as the Director of the Land Division at the Ministry of Agriculture in the 1970s, Lee conducted a nationwide survey of tidal flats and established the master plan for the southwestern coastal reclamation project, which later led to the Saemangeum reclamation project and the Seosan reclamation project.
In 1976, the Ministry of Agriculture submitted a plan to President Park Chung-hee to reclaim 400,000 hectares of land along the southwestern coast to establish a self-sufficient food supply. This plan was approved by the government in 1978, confirming the southwestern coastal reclamation project.
Born in Busan in 1939, Lee graduated from Busan High School and Seoul National University with a degree in law. He passed the civil service exam in 1961 and worked in the Economic Planning Board and the Presidential Secretariat, contributing to national land development policies.
Lee held various positions in the Ministry of Agriculture, including Director of the Land Division and Director of Agricultural Economics, where he designed key agricultural policies such as the establishment of the Garak-dong Agricultural and Fishery Wholesale Market. He served as Vice Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in 1988.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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