Research Reports
Agriculture in Korea 2010
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AuthorKorea Rural Economic Institute
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Publication Date2011.02.01
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Original
Over the past four decades or so, the Republic of Korea has
recorded an unprecedented economic growth. However, at the same
period, its rapid industrialization and urbanization posed serious
challenges to Korean rural areas, including rapid decrease and aging of
the farming population and widening income gap between urban and
rural areas. In the case of Korean agriculture, the 1950s was a period
when the staple grain rice was in short supply as the industry relied on
traditional agriculture. However, in the 1960s and 1970s, the industry
was able to lay down the ground for supplying the staple grain on its
own through technical innovation. In the 1980s and 1990s, the industry
saw the birth of modern agriculture, and it is shifting toward an ecofriendly
high-tech agriculture in the 2000s. In recent years, Korean
agriculture is faced with various problems, such as aging and
worsening financial situation of farmers and underdevelopment of farm
villages amid increasing opening of the domestic market to foreign
agricultural products due to free trade agreements.
Korea Rural Economic Institute published Agriculture in Korea in
1999 and Agriculture in Korea 2008 in 2008 with revisions. One of the
main purposes of publishing this manuscript series is to explain which
roles Korean agriculture has played and how agricultural policies have
changed in the economic development process. The publication
reviews the current situation and problems in each sector of Korean
agriculture and seeks to find their solutions. Also, it aims to help
readers outside of Korea to better understand Korean agriculture by
introducing and explaining the internal and external roles of the
industry and the direction it is headed in the age of globalization.
Correct understanding of Korean agriculture will greatly help mitigate
frictions with trading partners externally and reach consensus on
agricultural policies at home.
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