Background and Purpose
○The revised direct payments for enhancing public benefit have been in action since May 2020 after the legislative bill was passed by the National Assembly at the end of 2019 and related Presidential decree was revised from January and to May in 2020. The revision is considered successful in improving fairness between rice paddies and dry fields, and raising farmer’s’ income and satisfaction for policy. However, there are still various requests for improvements that are not reflected yet. The revised direct payment scheme focuses more on basic direct payments. The optional direct payments for public benefit, which is more directly related to public beneficial functions of agriculture, were not significantly changed, so it is pointed out the necessity of revising and expanding the optional payment scheme. Thus this study studies the ways to modify the optional direct payments for public benefit to correspond to the purpose of the direct payments to increase public benefits. It also suggests managing directions of the optional direct payments to enhance public benefits of agriculture and rural communities.

Research Methodology
○This study uses literature review, survey, statistical data analysis, and commissioned manuscripts written by external experts. Previous literature review and statistical data analysis investigate the operational state of direct payments for public benefit and reflection of improving requests, check the scope and role of optional payments, and identify their achievements and limitations, in order to derive basic directions for revision. Moreover, the review of previous discussions about the optional scheme and the survey of experts is used to suggest directions for modifying and operating the scheme. To suggest operational directions, this study surveys farm households participating in the program to conserve the agricultural environment, closely linked to the optional payments, and conducts quantitative analysis. Lastly, this study investigates similar foreign and domestic payment programs and uses survey results to suggest a managing system for the optional scheme and the role of operating entities.

(For more information, please refer to the report.)