S. Korea considers pledging rice to Asian emergency food program

By Lee Joon-seung
SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea may set aside 100,000t of rice for the
Asian emergency reserve program to help deal with potential food shortages in the
region, the government said Friday.
The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the rice could be
pledged next year when the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) is
set up.
A formal decision to join the effort will be made by late October after reviewing
local conditions and the effect of the donation on domestic demand and prices.
APTERR, first proposed in 2002 to deal with the possibility of region-wide
famine, calls on the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations and South Korea,
Japan and China to set aside rice for use in critical situations.
China and Japan -- the region's top two economies -- have agreed to provide
300,000t and 250,000t of rice, respectively. South Korea so far has not made any
formal commitment to the plan.
"There would be no need to actually send rice outside the country," said a
ministry official, "as the program calls for Seoul to simply set the rice aside
so it could be used in case of a famine."
The 100,000t would not necessarily be an annual donation, and contributions
could be halted or adjusted depending on domestic supply, the official added.
South Korea produces nearly 160,000 tons of surplus rice annually and grain
consumption has declined steadily. But holding a large amount of rice in storage
could boost overall prices and cost taxpayers a significant sum, the official
said.
In the past few years excess rice was shipped to North Korea, but the
deterioration of inter-Korean relations since last year has halted shipments.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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