Angry rice farmers raze paddies to protest falling prices

By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- Farmers frustrated by falling rice prices are razing
their paddies in a spreading nationwide protest, demanding measures beyond the
current yearly government purchases.
A group of farmers in South Gyeongsang Province, one of the country's main rice
producing regions, overturned their paddies on Wednesday, joining others who
launched protests earlier this week.
About 2,000 farmers in North Jeolla Province gathered Tuesday in front of a
municipal building to protest the falling prices, while another group of farmers
in South Jeolla Province staged a sit-in in front of a local farmers' association
the next day. Leaders of the group entered the sixth day of a hunger strike on
Wednesday.
"While the price of fertilizer and oil are rising, rice prices are falling," Han
Tae-hee, a 68-year-old farmer, said. "I'd like to ask the government whether they
are aware that farmers' debts are snowballing even as they continue to farm."
According to the agriculture ministry's report, domestic prices have steadily
fallen over the past two decades as consumption fell to below 80 kilograms per
person last year for the first time since the early 1990s, when South Koreans
consumed an average of nearly 120 kilograms of rice per year.
To narrow the gap between shrinking demand and increasing supply, some
agronomists have proposed that the government consider adopting a production
control system, which was temporarily introduced from 2003-2005.
"Although the government bought 100,000 tons of rice produced in 2008 in a bid to
stabilize rice prices, the timing was off and the price gap kept widening," said
an official with an agricultural association in North Jeolla Province. "The
government's purchasing plan has shown its limitations. We need a longer term
strategy."
President Lee Myung-bak on Wednesday said the government plans to purchase this
year's surplus rice and that he will find ways to increase domestic consumption.
"I have heard that farmers are deeply concerned and are even complaining about
the good harvest due to falling rice prices," Lee said at a press conference.
"The rice surplus is not the problem. Instead, we have to increase domestic
consumption of rice."
A progressive farmers' group fired back at Lee's remarks, calling the proposed
solutions ineffective.
"We denounce the government's empty measures, which have failed to solve the
fundamental problems in the farming industry," said Han Do-suk, chairman of the
Korean Peasants League. He said his league will stage a nationwide protest in
November.
"The government should step forward to increase rice consumption and prepare
stimulus measures, such as resuming rice aid to North Korea," Han said.
South Korea's former liberal governments sent 300,000-500,000 tons of rice to
North Korea almost every year from 1998 to 2008, when such aid was suspended
after Lee took office in February of that year.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)