"Me, I kept my promise." Agriculture Minister Catching Cabbage Prices, Lower Kimjang Cost by 10% Compared to Average Year

YTN Radio (FM 94.5) [YTN News FM Wise Radio Life]
□ Broadcast Date: November 25, 2024 (Mon.)
□ Host: Announcer Park Gui-bin
□ Castor: Song Mi-ryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.
◇ Announcer Park Gui-bin (hereinafter referred to as Park Gui-bin): Cabbage prices are gradually stabilizing as autumn cabbages are shipped for the full-fledged kimchi-making season. In the meantime, you must have been worried about the price of kimchi ingredients. Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryeong, who appeared on our wise radio show last month and promised to make kimchi, will meet you on the phone today. Hello, sir.

◆ Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryeong (hereinafter referred to as Song Mi-ryeong): Hello.

◇Park Gwi-bin: Yes, you kept your promise. You've been worried, haven't you? What was that like?

◆ Song Mi-ryeong: Yes, I explained the overall situation of cabbage prices and told you that I would manage the supply and demand of kimchi ingredients without any problems. Actually, it's not a big problem while checking the production area of autumn cabbages. I thought about it, but nevertheless, I was slightly worried about what if there was an inevitable variable. That's a relief though.

◇Park Gui-bin: At that time, the price of cabbages was over 10,000 won per bottle and 20,000 won somewhere. It was a time when there was an article about it, so I asked if it would be caught, but the minister said it would be caught, so I did it really, but he's stabilizing and thank you so much. You've done a nice job. Secretary of State

◆Song Mi-ryeong: Thank you. It's all thanks to your concern.

◇Park Gwi-bin: You must have tried so hard, but I don't think you could have slept well even though you've talked for a while now.

◆Song Mi-ryeong: I've bought cabbage several times. I went to the kimchi factory, met our farmers, and ran hard with our employees in many ways.

◇Park Gwi-bin: Many people worked hard on it. The price of cabbage has fallen a lot now, and besides cabbage, a lot of kimchi goes into it. What is the price of kimchi now, including ingredients such as garlic, red pepper powder, and salted fish?

◆Song Mi-ryeong: Overall, the supply of kimchi ingredients is stable. Prices have also stabilized downward. So the main ingredient is cabbage. As cabbage was shipped from Honam region, the volume of shipments increased a lot. So the price has been on a clear decline since mid-November. And in the case of ingredients such as red pepper powder and garlic, there is enough supply capacity. In particular, in the case of red pepper powder, wholesale prices are low because the production of dried peppers has increased compared to last year. However, some items, such as radish and chives, have slightly higher prices than usual. However, as you know, items that account for about 80% of the cost of kimchi are lower than usual, so overall, when we picked out the cost of kimchi, it is a little lower than usual by nearly 10%.

◇Park Gui-bin: Did you make kimchi, too?

◆Song Mi-ryeong: I thought I should buy pickled cabbage and make kimchi this time, but I haven't done it yet. I went to the workshop, the kimchi factory, the mart, and the cabbage field, so I didn't have a break yet.

◇Park Gui-bin: You couldn't make kimchi because you were going around to catch cabbage. What's the secret to being able to make kimchi like this because I didn't have time?

◆Song Mi-ryeong: I think the most important thing is thanks to our farmers' hard management of growth. There was a torrential downpour in September. At that time, the cabbage field in Haenam was ruined. There were a lot of reports like this, so I went to the cabbage field at the end of September. But what our Haenam farmers said was that since our cabbage situation was unclear at the time, we thought we should import Chinese fresh cabbage, so we reviewed a small amount. Then, in our farms, the area of cabbage is not important, and growth management is the key. Our farmers said, "Trust us and wait, I'm confident that I'll do well." Don't import it. However, as you said, our farmers did their best, so the cabbage crop was restored and the price was maintained in a stable state.

◇Park Gui-bin: I definitely felt that the atmosphere has changed a lot. Last weekend, I heard a lot of people making kimchi here and there. For a while, there were a lot of people who gave up making kimchi because they called it "Kimpo-jok," but I should make it now. After hearing this kind of voice, last Friday was Kimchi Day. There was an event that day, and didn't the minister make kimchi himself?

◆ Song Mi-ryeong: That's right.

◇Park Gui-bin: How was the situation at the site?

◆Song Mi-ryeong: Kimchi Day was on November 22. Last Friday, November 22nd was meaningful. There are many ingredients in our kimchi, but it means that there are 22 effects if we collect all the ingredients of each kimchi and make it. And just in time, it was also the best time to make kimchi. Foreigners in Korea and multicultural families participated in the event to experience our kimchi culture together. So I was able to see how interested our world is in Korean kimchi. We did some meaningful things at this time. Since our farmers had a hard time farming cabbages this year and our people were worried about the price of cabbages being expensive, let's share the fun together. In this sense, we made 1,122kg of kimchi made at the event, 1,122kg of rice, and 1,122 packs of pork meat so that we could eat it with kimchi and donated it to our neighbors in need.

◇Park Gwibin: You must be very proud. In many ways, Minister, you said that the price of kimchi ingredients fell by 10% compared to last year, and you said that radish and chives are still a little more expensive than that. Then will it be maintained at this price level? Or is there a possibility that it will fall if I wait a little longer?

◆ Song Mi-ryeong: It looks like it could drop a little. In the case of kimchi ingredients, the government and distributors are cooperating to support discounts of up to 40%. But the discount support period is until December 4th. So I think it would be better to make kimchi this week or next week. In the case of discount support, there are about 18,300 online malls in one large supermarket and small and medium-sized marts. But the price varies little by little for each of these vendors. Some marts have cheaper cabbages and some marts have cheaper radishes. So if you look at the website, you can compare the discount sales price. Then I think you will be able to purchase kimchi ingredients at a more reasonable price. In particular, we will also provide a 20% discount on pork for boiled pork until December 4th through self-help funds. So I think it would be good to refer to this as well.

◇Park Gui-bin: Consumers even gave us wise tips to reduce the cost of making kimchi. The government and the retail industry are planning to support the discount by December 4th.

◆Song Mi-ryeong: Until December 4th.

◇Park Gui-bin: I hope you make kimchi during this period. Boiled pork together

◆Song Mi-ryeong: Yes, that's right.

◇Park Gui-bin: This summer, the impact of the supply and demand of agricultural products was so great due to the heat wave, so it was really expensive starting with the price of cabbage, but now it has stabilized a little. Winter is just around the corner. In winter, the cold weather and heavy snow could cause damage to the agricultural and livestock industry. How are you preparing for this?

◆Song Mi-ryeong: We've already checked the winter weather conditions announced by the Korea Meteorological Administration. So, in fact, we have about 4,300 greenhouses nationwide that can be affected by heavy snow damage in advance from the end of October to the beginning of November. There are greenhouses and then aging congratulatory speeches. There are 1,300 of these. In the case of these greenhouses and livestock houses, pre-inspection has been completed. And I've completed measures to supplement it. And how to prevent disasters in the case of agricultural facilities and crops in preparation for winter for farmers. I've prepared some tips like this and technical support if you need it at the site. Nevertheless, there are cases where disasters inevitably occur. In this case, emergency recovery is done very quickly. In addition, we plan to actively support farmers to quickly return to management by paying disaster support or insurance.

◇Park Gui-bin: Yes, and avian influenza is popular again in winter. Doesn't the price of chicken and eggs go up when avian influenza is prevalent? How about that?

◆Song Mi-ryeong: So winter birds are coming to Korea in earnest from October, so we are operating as a special livestock quarantine agency from October to February next year. So the key is that farmers are good at quarantine management at our spawning farms and then meat farms. It is very important to thoroughly block and quarantine. So, we are collaborating with farmers to strengthen this quarantine management. We are also doing our best to ensure that the people can consume livestock products with confidence by closely monitoring the supply and demand situation of eggs and chicken. So far, four highly pathogenic AI outbreaks have occurred in our poultry farms, including last night's occurrence. However, so far, it has only about 0.14% of the total number of breeding, so it has little effect on supply and demand. And now the price of chicken and eggs is stable compared to the previous year or average year. So, since highly pathogenic AI is probably in full swing from now on, we are preparing for situations where egg production is given or prices rise sharply. So in this case, we produce extended spawning system or are called the centers. The backbone is the age of 14 weeks. So, by fostering the backbone, stockpiling in advance, or supporting distributors to reduce delivery unit prices. I can tell you that we are also preparing measures in case of the spread of highly pathogenic AI.

◇Park Gui-bin: I think the part you care about the most is stabilizing the supply and demand of agricultural products. Last week, the Democratic Party of Korea voted alone to revise the Grain Act and the so-called Agricultural Safety Act to stabilize the supply and demand of agricultural products. If this passes, how will it change in the future?

◆ Song Mi-ryeong: The purpose of this law is to stabilize the supply and demand of agricultural products, but in fact, we are very worried because it can destabilize the supply and demand. First of all, the grain law is about the government to make a mandatory purchase of leftover rice. In the end, if there is a signal that the leftover rice is purchased compulsorily, the rice does not decrease, so to speak. This is why production is a bit of a problem. In particular, this time, in addition to the mandatory purchase of rice left in the grain law, the standard price and the difference in market price should be compensated completely, so the grain price stabilization system was also followed. And the main content of the Agricultural Safety Act is the implementation of an agricultural price stabilization system that asks farmers to compensate for the difference if the price of agricultural products falls below the standard price. However, since some agricultural products that compensate for the difference may over-produce and the rest may, so to speak, under-produce, the supply and demand of agricultural products as a whole may become unstable from the people's point of view. We're looking at it like this. Next, the Disaster Countermeasures Act was discussed again this time. What the Disaster Countermeasures Act is about is that we are still working on disaster countermeasures. However, existing disaster measures are aimed at recovering from damage. However, the disaster countermeasure law proposed by the opposition party is to compensate not only for damage recovery but also for all production costs spent before the damage situation. In this way, disaster insurance can be neutralized. And now you have submitted the Accident Insurance Act, and in the case of accident insurance, all insurance policies use premium discounts as a basic principle. However, this amendment eliminates the premium of equal rates, whether in areas with frequent disasters or not. So this would neutralize the basic principles of insurance and make government finances and things like that unsustainable, so these four laws are very difficult for the government to accept. That's what we're thinking right now.

◇Park Gui-bin: You just said that the opposition party will clarify its opposition to the National Assembly's single handling of four amendments to the Agricultural Safety Act and the Agricultural Disaster Insurance Act. How will the government respond in the future?

◆ Song Mi-ryeong: In our case, as I said, the opposition party is continuously explaining and persuading the issue of the amendment, and the government is trying to come up with an alternative. I'm continuing to make that kind of effort. And for your information, the Grain Act and the Agricultural Safety Act were also proposed in the 21st National Assembly. At that time, our agricultural community also opposed it. So there are 59 farmers' organizations, and among them, about 40 organizations have made clear their opposition. But what's been submitted again now is that the existing problems remain the same. So our agricultural community will not change its position. I'm looking at it like this. The government has no choice but to combine various opinions and explain continuously what alternatives can be made to make our agricultural villages sustainable. And this has been proposed by the standing committee, and there is still a process of deliberating bills such as the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee and the plenary session, right? So in these processes, I would like to focus my efforts on explaining and persuading the problems of the amendment and the government's position more clearly.

◇Park Gwi-bin: Yes, I see. Sir, it's the end of the year now. I think you'll be preparing for next year. I think you will have a lot of concerns about the price stability plan for agricultural and livestock products in 2025. Which blueprint do you have from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs? Which keyword do you have in your mind?

◆Song Mi-ryeong: Basically, starting with the definition of agricultural industry, we have discovered various reform tasks such as what to do with farmland, what to do with agricultural personnel, and what to do with technology. We are preparing a direction for reform in each field. So, by next month, we plan to announce this plan before the end of this year, and we plan to carry out these plans sequentially from next year.

◇Park Gwibin: I see. Let's look forward to structural reform of agriculture. Minister, that's all we have to say today. Thank you.

◆Song Mi-ryeong: Thank you.

◇Park Gui-bin: I was Song Mi-ryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.