The Democratic Party of Korea has reintroduced some of the provisions of the rice management law amendment, which was previously discarded three times, as of the 23rd.
On the same day, the National Assembly's Committee on Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries held a plenary meeting to review 88 bills, including the rice law amendment.
This rice law amendment, sponsored by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Yoon Jun-byeong, stipulates that "in order to stabilize rice prices, the president may designate individuals by presidential decree who can purchase or sell rice." The committee plans to refer the bill to the bill review subcommittee for discussion.
The rice law amendment was discarded due to the government's right of request for reconsideration (veto) and the expiration of the National Assembly's session.
The Democratic Party of Korea processed its first rice law amendment in the 21st National Assembly, but it was disapproved and discarded in a National Assembly re-vote after then-President Yoon Suk-yeol exercised his veto in April 2023. In the following year, 2024, the Democratic Party of Korea reintroduced the rice law amendment, but it was also discarded as it could not even be presented to the plenary session due to the expiration of the National Assembly's session.
After the inauguration of the 22nd National Assembly, the Democratic Party of Korea passed the rice law amendment in the plenary session. However, in December of last year, acting Prime Minister Han Duck-soo exercised his veto. This too was disapproved and discarded after a National Assembly re-vote.
The rice law amendment introduced by lawmaker Yoon has somewhat relaxed the 'government mandatory' provision compared to previous bills. Previous bills mandated that the government must purchase the excess production if rice prices fell below a certain threshold. However, this amendment imposes a duty on the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to establish annual targets for supply and demand management and a plan for achieving those targets, while also establishing measures to purchase surplus rice if those targets are not met.