Agriculture in South Korea

After land reform under the Lee Seung-man administration, economic revitalization under the Park Chung-hee military government and the wave of world trade liberalization that began in the 1980s, Korean agriculture has undergone dramatic changes.

In addition, Korea imports more than 60% of its beef, fish and shellfish, 20% of its fruit, poultry and milk from abroad, and only sugar and eggs are self-sufficient.

[1][4][6][9] During the Paleolithic period (in Korea beginning approximately 10,000 years ago),[10] hunting and gathering took place on the Korean Peninsula.

The early study of agronomy and the means of improving agricultural practice are seen in public farming during the reign of Seongdeok of Silla (AD 722).

Heungdeok of Silla in the early ninth century secured the introduction of ginseng seeds from Tang China and growth of them experimentally in Chiri/ Jirisan.

In the Goryeo period (918-1392), various farm tools were invented (spades, plows, shovels) and water wheels were introduced from South China.

[21] During the Joseon Dynasty, agriculture developed to a more advanced level again, but forest degradation was a major result of the firewood burning heating systems of homes.

In the 18th century rationalist scholar Seo Yu Gu, author of the 113-volume Encyclopedia Koreana on Rural Living, complained about the huge cost and environmental impact of the heating systems (Ondol).

[31] Government policy in the years immediately following the Korean War 1950-1953 did not permit of much investment in agriculture, despite its importance to many people, because of the urgent need to reinvest in defence and reconstruction.

[1][19] In a 2023 study of the impact of climate change and technology on South Korean rice production, it was concluded that farmer awareness of fertiliser and pesticide improved use was needed.

[42] With the rapid growth of South Korea's economy and urbanization, areas of farmland have been decreasing and rural populations have moved from the countryside to cities.

[60] With the development of urbanization and industrialization, South Korea's self-sufficiency rate in food is decreasing due to the continuous decline of arable land.

[1] As the agricultural population ages, the family size and income situation of South Korean farming households has deteriorated.

The greatest achievement of South Korean agricultural cooperatives, which is recognised internationally, is that they have solved the problem of pernicious unfairly high interest rates on loans.

[1] Korean rice cultivation by irrigated fields is more biodiverse than that by terracing and the need to integrate good management has been recognised as a possible solution to reduced rural manpower.

With the Uruguay Round negotiations in 1993 and the establishment of the World Trade Organisation in 1995, South Korea began to reduce its rice subsidies in line with its international commitments.

According to relevant international agreements, South Korea has to import a certain amount of rice from China, the United States and other countries every year.

With the increase in rice production and wheat imports, barley has lost its status as a major food crop in South Korea.

[1] In the Korean vegetable market as surveyed in 2023, for certain key crops (cabbage, garlic and radish) price variations are considered to result from levels of domestic output.

To meet the challenges of World Trade Organisation accession, the South Korean government sought to expand the size and number of specialist cattle farms.

Due to the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States in December 2003, beef consumption in South Korea began to decline.

In the rural areas of counties and towns with less than 200,000 people, the government will select sites and carry out infrastructure construction to attract "private" capital to set up factories and enterprises, thereby reducing the proportion of local agriculture.

Measured by thousands of tons, other agricultural products in 2018 were: tangerines, 646; potatoes, 553; watermelons, 534; apples, 475; persimmon (3rd largest producer in the world, behind only China and Spain), 346; tomatoes, 344; cucumber, 333; garlic, 331; pumpkins, 321; sweet potatoes, 314; peppers, 230; strawberries (7th largest producer in the world), 213; peaches, 205; pears, 203; grapes, 177; melons, 167.

The agricultural sector was expected to decline in value due to changes in consumer preferences in choosing more meat and fish as opposed to rice and grains.

The K-Ricebelt Project is for South Korea to help African nations to cut their dependence (currently 40% of total requirement) on expensive imported rice and instead grow more and better for themselves.

The South Korean government as at July 2023 had a spending target for this project of 100 billion won (77 million US dollars, 2023 values) over 4 years with the aim of delivering 10,000 tonnes of rice seeds annually.

These will be specially developed high-productivity seeds (triple or quadruple productive) adapted to the particular African climate conditions, and to be grown at new Korean-built facilities in the relevant countries.

[88] On 16 October 2023 Sierra Leone became the ninth African country to join the initiative by concluding a Memorandum of Understanding with South Korea.

[95] GDEP is a digital platform agreed to be created whereby farmers in Indonesia can participate in access to agricultural and carbon-trading information.

It aimed from September 2023 onwards to run a pilot scheme for 10 million Indonesian farmers to access the platform and benefit from AI.