The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on June 2 that it has adopted 30 key normalization tasks for the agricultural and rural sectors, including a comprehensive land survey and cooperative reform. The ministry plans to continue identifying additional normalization tasks in the coming phases to actively address longstanding challenges in the agricultural and rural fields.
On the same day, the ministry held a meeting of the "Task Force for Agricultural and Rural Normalization" at the aT Center in Seoul. Since launching the task force in April, the ministry has operated sector-specific teams and conducted workshops for civil servants, uncovering a total of 104 improvement tasks for the agricultural and rural sectors.
During the meeting, the ministry confirmed 30 normalization tasks, which include five cases of exploiting legal loopholes, 16 outdated laws and regulations, six laws that are disconnected from public sentiment, and three cases of potential unjust enrichment.
To prevent exploitation of legal loopholes, the ministry highlighted the need for a comprehensive land survey and cooperative reform. It plans to take strict action against illegal activities based on the survey results while also pursuing effective institutional improvements. Additionally, the ministry aims to strengthen internal and external checks on cooperatives and reform election systems to ensure they fulfill their primary roles.
To improve outdated laws and regulations, the ministry will revise policies to recognize young farmers renting their parents' land and facilities as independent operators eligible for agricultural settlement support. Furthermore, it plans to expand the introduction of foreign seasonal workers, which was previously limited to cities and counties, to autonomous districts within metropolitan areas.
In addressing laws that are disconnected from public sentiment, the ministry will actively collaborate with other departments to tackle issues related to public safety, such as prohibiting drunk driving of agricultural vehicles like tractors and cultivators. To prevent unjust enrichment, the ministry intends to ensure that the benefits of tariff quotas for sugar are directed to actual consumers by shifting the focus of quota recommendations to genuine demand-driven companies.
The ministry aims to quickly produce results from the normalization tasks, led by the Agricultural Industry Policy Planning Division, while accelerating the identification of subsequent tasks.
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung stated, "We will thoroughly identify and improve unreasonable or outdated systems from the perspective of the public. We will continue to uncover tasks and promptly address any issues that cause inconvenience to the public."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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