Chinese cabbage is coming, Minister Song Mi-ryeong said, "Double quarantine is thorough, domestic kimchi cabbage supply is no problem."

- 20,000 won cabbage? The average consumer is in the 9,000 won range

- Cabbage, shipments increase around October 10, price stabilization after mid-October

- No problem with supply and demand of domestic kimchi cabbage

- Chinese cabbage quarantine, double implementation in China and Korea

- Rice price drop? Farmhouse revenues don't matter much

- Rice oversupply, essentially reducing production and increasing wheat, soybeans and powder cultivation

YTN Radio (FM 94.5) [YTN News FM Wise Radio Life]

□ Broadcast date and time: October 2, 2024 (Wednesday)
□ Host: Announcer Park Gui-bin
□ Castor: Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryeong

- Opposition to the amendment of the Grain Act, negative for the rice industry in the long run
- Basic plan to end dog food, early closure and full-time support

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

◆Park Gwi-bin: Prices are so high these days that it is hard to put a food item in a shopping basket. In particular, the price of cabbage has risen a lot due to the long heat wave, and it is said that it is more than 20,000 won per head. If you set the price of one item, like catching a mole, it seems that other items rise again. It is the ministry in charge of the distribution of agricultural products in Korea. Let's talk about this with the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Minister Song Mi-ryeong is here. Welcome.

◇Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryeong (hereinafter referred to as Song Mi-ryeong): Yes, hello, I'm Song Mi-ryeong.

◆Park Gui Bin: Please say hello to our listeners after a long time.

◇Song Mi-ryeong: Hello. I am the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The price of cabbage has become a hot topic these days, so the people will be very concerned. I will explain in detail what our department is doing, including cabbage, and I will tell you how to respond in policy. Thank you.

◆Park Gui-bin: Yes, welcome. There is also a saying that the price of cabbage is 20,000 won per piece, but the minister has to make kimchi. You haven't shopped yet, have you?

◇ Song Mi-ryeong: First of all, I'll say that it's not kimchi cabbage. And last week, there were some reports that cabbage prices were 20,000 won, but in fact, there are only one or two places that cost 20,000 won. When I saw it in person, some were about 6,000 won and others were about 14,000 won. So, on average, vegetable prices fluctuate every day depending on where we buy various cabbages, for what purpose and when we buy them. So considering that, looking at last week. On average, the consumer price is in the 9,000 won range.

◆Park Gui-bin: It's about 10,000 won right now, but this is much higher than in previous years.

◇ Song Mi-ryeong: That's right. The heat wave was unusually long and hot this summer. That's why cabbage is called a low-temperature plant. So, it's really autumn weather right now, but cabbage grows well in cool temperatures like now. So it's a little hard for cabbages to endure the heat, so until last week and this week, the amount of cabbages shipped to the market is actually small.

◆Park Gui-bin: When will the price stabilize?

◇Song Mi-ryeong: The cabbage we are eating now is from the semi-highland. As expected, shipments are expected to increase slightly around October 10. And at the end of October, the so-called kimchi cabbage is autumn cabbage, but the ones that are a little faster can be pulled in advance by the end of October. So, we predict that it will gradually stabilize after mid-October.

◆Park Gui-bin: So you're saying there won't be a big problem buying kimchi cabbage, right?

◇ Song Mi-ryeong: Yes, that's right. It hasn't been long since I planted kimchi cabbage. He's growing up. However, there is Haenam-gun among the kimchi cabbage production areas. Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do, is responsible for about 25% of our kimchi cabbage. But last time, there was a heavy rain between the 19th and 21st, and between the 20th and 20th. At that time, 611ha of cabbages were damaged in Haenam. When this report came out, they worried a lot about kimchi cabbage. But I went to Haenam on Sunday. When I went and listened to him, he talked about 611ha, including a slight delay in growth due to the rain, and it was actually about 20ha that was completely unusable. This is less than 1% of the total cabbage area, and now the weather is a little cooler in autumn, and our farmers are very skilled. I heard that if you manage your growth through nutritional supplements and control, you don't have to worry about kimchi cabbage.

◆Park Gwi-bin: Yes, I see. The government is also making efforts to stabilize the supply and demand of cabbage, and one of them is reported as Chinese cabbage imports. As far as I know, imports have begun, but the people are now nervous watching the news. The memory of naked cabbage in my head is so vivid. What do you think? Where will the cabbages come in now be delivered?

◇Song Mi-ryeong: I watched the video and wondered what it was. The naked cabbage was a video from the process of making pickled cabbage. The Chinese cabbage we import now is fresh cabbage. So you bring what you harvested right from the field. In addition, we tested in China and quarantine and safety tests in Korea so that there are no safety or hygiene problems, so we received about 16 tons of initial supplies last week. However, this is not disclosed to consumers in our mart. Currently, we are thinking of supplying food ingredients marts or restaurant companies.

◆Park Gui-bin: I see. Imported from China is now fresh cabbage coming from the field directly from the mountainous area, and it is not coming into the home anymore. And because it was such a shocking incident with pickled cabbage at the time, we connected to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and interviewed the head of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. I remember confirming that it was not a cabbage that came into Korea at the time. But I'm saying that a lot of people seem to be anxious because it's connected together with Chinese cabbage, and then you don't have to worry about the safety of Chinese cabbage. And actually, it's kimchi-making season soon, but don't you put a lot of kimchi in it, not just cabbages? All the vegetables have radish chili powder in them, but the price of these ingredients seems to have gone up these days, so how do you see this?

◇Song Mi-ryeong: The ingredients you need to make kimchi now are about 14 agricultural products. But as we see it, supply and demand are stable now except for cabbage and radish. You don't have to worry, but we are going to announce a plan to stabilize the supply and demand of cabbage from the perspective of consumers within October. It's carefully considered by item. I'll tell you how much it will cost and where it's good to buy it.

◆Park Gui-bin: The listeners are giving their opinions by text message. The listener said, "I'm in Icheon. I planted 250 kimchi cabbages this year, but the elk ate them all, so I have two left. ’

◇Song Mi-ryeong: What should I do?

◆Park VIP: What should I do with an elk?

◇ Song Mi-ryeong: I don't know. I have to do something about an elk. That's too bad.

◆Park Gwi-bin: Please think about it. I see. Another listener said, 'Can't we know what kind of pesticide we put on Chinese cabbage? Do you make sure to quarantine? ’

◇ Song Mi-ryeong: Of course. We're going to quarantine. That's why I do quarantine twice. We did it in China, came to Korea, and then moved it back to our stockpile base and released it to the media and food and ingredients marts on Monday. But everyone saw it and was very satisfied with the quality.

◆Park Gui-bin: I see. So the price of cabbage will be stabilized now. In October, the weather has gotten a little chilly. And the kimchi cabbage hasn't come out yet, but it's growing well now, and there will be no problem in the supply and demand of kimchi cabbage. I think we should talk about rice, too. If there's kimchi and rice on the table, you have to talk about the most important thing right now. Now it's rice. October is the full-fledged rice harvest season. How is the supply and demand of rice this year?

◇Song Mi-ryeong: From what we've looked at until September, the weather was hot this year, but it was also quite good for rice growth. So I think this rice will be supplied a lot more than our consumption.

◆Park Gui-bin: I see. So actually, isn't there another problem now because of the oversupply? In addition, rice consumption is gradually decreasing, so he recently announced measures to stabilize supply and demand during the rice harvest season.

◇ Song Mi-ryeong: That's right. This was the earliest harvest season measure ever. It's not usually the time for rice to come out yet. Early-growing species come out actively from July, but on September 10th, we announced measures for the harvest season. What was announced at that time was that the supply would exceed that consumption, so 20,000 ha is a little more than 100,000 tons of rice. So we announced that we will quarantine this amount in the rice meat market. On October 7, the National Statistical Office will announce the expected yield. I'll officially look at it and quarantine the excess amount compared to consumption in the market. That's what we announced together. And when the harvest is completely decided in November, we will still need additional measures. I divided it like this and presented it.

◆Park Gui-bin: But what I'm actually curious about is that rice prices have plummeted from the perspective of farmers. So, the price of rice is so high that we can't even save the production cost. As far as I know, there are many farmers who are depressed, but from a consumer's point of view, I don't think so if rice is cheap. Why is that?

◇Song Mi-ryeong: As of last Friday, the price of rice consumers is about 50,908 won per 20kg. Then based on a family of four, You're taking it for about a month with 20kg. Then you're eating with 50,000 won, so considering other things, the price of rice is not expensive. Consumer prices and current consumer prices are lower than the average year or last year. That's why rice prices are like that, but when our farmers say that rice prices are too low, we usually call it the harvest season from October 5th to December 25th. At that time, the price of rice produced by farmers in the mountain area in order to sell to RPC is called the price of rice during the mountain harvest season. The price was about 200,000 won last year. It's over 200,000 won. But after that harvest season, rice prices gradually fall, and the RPC pays for the rice, not the farmers.

◆Park Gui-bin: What is RPC?

◇ Song Mi-ryeong: It's called a rice processing center, where RPC buys rice from farmers, grinds it, packs it, and sells it. That's why I'm selling it on this RPC. In fact, farms are not very relevant because the price is falling. However, from the perspective of farmers, the RPC is still worried about what if the price falls further because the rice is still piled up last year due to a decrease in consumption, but the harvest season comes again this year. Yes, so there is a slight difference. Right.

◆Park Gui-bin: But I think it's right that rice consumption has decreased a lot.

◇ Song Mi-ryeong: That's right. It's decreased a lot.

◆ Park Gui-bin: So the fact is that this is a situation where the problem of oversupply of rice continues or gets bigger in the future as rice consumption decreases. Then, I think there are voices saying, "Should we find a fundamental solution?" How do you see that?

◇ Song Mi-ryeong: So we think that fundamentally we need to reduce rice production. So, in order to reduce rice production, it would be nice to reduce rice production and increase the cultivation of wheat and beans, which we import a lot, a little more wheat and bean powder. So, I called it a strategic crop, and I've recommended a lot of people to stop building rice and farm these crops by paying direct payments for strategic crops. But from the perspective of farmers, it is the easiest to farm rice safely, rather than going on a road you haven't been to, and rice is mechanized a lot, and rice is bought regularly by RPCs like this, so it is difficult to give up rice farming. So, starting next year, we're going to give you some reduction allocation area by region, so we're going to give more incentives to regions that have been reducing a lot as strategic crops. And more importantly, you need to increase your consumption. Keep eating. It's not important to promote like this, but in fact, if the rice is delicious, it can be consumed a lot. So, I would like to recommend cultivating such varieties so that consumers can eat really delicious rice rather than having a large amount of delicious rice and eco-friendly rice. And more importantly, even if the consumption of rice is reduced, processed foods made of rice are also very popular. It's the same with tteokbokki. It's the same with alcohol. So, we're going to make some fundamental measures to increase rice consumption in other directions.

◆Park Gui-bin: What do you think about the revision of the grain law being promoted by the National Assembly? So, the government is obliged to buy the remaining rice. This is what it's about. How can I watch it?

◇ Song Mi-ryeong: So if, for example, there is a law to purchase leftover rice under these circumstances, there will be no more reason for farmers to reduce rice cultivation.

◆Park Gui-bin: That's why we need to reduce the production of rice.

◇Song Mi-ryeong: But there is only an incentive not to reduce rice production further, and the incentive for us to make such high-quality delicious rice is also decreasing from the perspective of farmers. You only need to have a large amount, but you don't have to make such efforts. And in the long run, if you have more rice left over and play like this, the price will fall further. It's a lot. The government is opposed to the law because it has a negative impact on our entire rice industry in the long run.

◆Park Gwibin: I see. Please briefly introduce the recent Korean farm income management safety net.

◇ Song Mi-ryeong: The Korean version means that we will build an income management safety net for farmers that meets Korean conditions by combining the European direct payment system and the American policy insurance. We believe this policy is very important because farmers can supply agri-food stably to our people only when they can basically farm without worrying. The key is to give production-neutral basic direct payments, especially to ensure that the production of any item is not over or understated. And I heard it's optional direct payment. It also means that we will reward agricultural activities that help the environment. More importantly, in order to eliminate the income instability of farmers, the amount is given, or if the income falls for any reason, it is the same as paying insurance premiums under one's own responsibility and indemnity insurance. And when my income fell to a certain extent, I bought the insurance. It is to create a system like this that compensates with insurance. The most important thing is that the private sector will cooperate to preemptively manage supply and demand to alleviate the problem of instability in the supply and demand of this agricultural product.

◆Park Gui-bin: The name of the farm household income management safety net measures was given. In fact, the minister is an expert from the Rural Economic Research Institute. So, since you are an expert who has always studied the direction of agricultural and rural policy, talking about it makes me think that you are thinking about everything in detail. The listeners are listening to the interview and giving their opinions. We're threshing rice tomorrow. I think the purchase price of rice has dropped a lot. If you stop farming rice, it would be good to provide initial support so that you can farm other crops. ’ That's what it says.

◇ Song Mi-ryeong: Yes, that's a very good opinion.

◆Park Gui-bin: Another listener said, 'Consumers these days. I also buy rice based on the quality. I'm in favor of advanced diversification. ’

◇ Song Mi-ryeong: That's such a great opinion.

◆Park Gui-bin: 'Just hearing the word naked cabbage gives me goosebumps. "Cabbage kimchi is the soul of Koreans, that's right. Minister, please continue to take good care of it. ‘

◇Song Mi-ryeong: Thank you so much. I'll do that.

◆Park Gui-bin: Another listener said, 'I couldn't make kimchi with Chinese cabbage, but I'm glad there's no problem with autumn cabbage. ’

◇Song Mi-ryeong: Yes, please let them know that there is no problem with kimchi cabbage.

◆Park Gui-bin: That's right. It's a ban on dog food. Although the basic plan to end the dog food service has been announced, it seems that there is still a strong backlash from the Breeding Dog Association. This will be implemented in 2027, what are you preparing for?

◇Song Mi-ryeong: We received an implementation plan from this related industry, including our dog breeders, by August, to reduce the implementation plan like this by February 2017. Until August, and we conducted a survey and research, so stakeholders also had several meetings. So we announced last week that it is a basic plan to end dog food in September. So, this content ultimately calls for encouraging the breeding and slaughter industries to close their businesses early, and supporting full-time work in distribution and restaurants. We are working together on what to do to minimize the number of children's dogs, but from the government's point of view, we will check the obligations of the implementation plan until the end. In particular, I think that it is important for the government to try to form a social consensus like this. I see.

◆Park Gui-bin: You are the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and many people are worried about the high price of agricultural, livestock and food, so please say a final word.

◇Song Mi-ryeong: You talked about catching moles earlier, but we're really sorry. However, in the case of rice and livestock products and fruits, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is working hard to maintain them stably. However, please understand that vegetables are bound to fluctuate every day due to this climate problem. Nevertheless, I would like to tell you that the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is operating a growth management council with farmers to take care of supply and demand every day. I'll try harder.

◆Park Gwibin: I see. So far, I was Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryeong. Thank you, sir.

◇Song Mi-ryeong: Yes, thank you.