On the 10th, the bill to amend the Agricultural Disaster Response Act and the Agricultural Disaster Insurance Act passed the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee's subcommittee in the National Assembly by agreement of both ruling and opposition parties. The four agricultural laws were bills that were discarded due to former President Yoon Suk-yeol's exercise of veto power.
That day, the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee held a subcommittee meeting to address the two bills and the amendment to the Special Act on Support for Employment in Agriculture and Fisheries. The grain management law and the Act on the Distribution and Price Stabilization of Agricultural and Fishery Products were presented as agenda items but were not reviewed.
The amendment to the Agricultural Disaster Response Act includes provisions for establishing and implementing a basic plan for agricultural disaster response every five years. The amendment to the Agricultural Disaster Insurance Act expanded the scope to include damages from pests and diseases.
Jung Hee-yong, a member of the People Power Party and opposition party's secretary of the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee, met with reporters and noted, "Given that climate change has made natural disasters more frequent and severe, both the ruling and opposition parties, as well as the government, have engaged in in-depth discussions with the thought that the increasingly difficult conditions for agriculture and fisheries need to be improved."
The Agricultural Disaster Response Act was revised to allow different support levels based on whether agricultural and fishery households are insured, while the Agricultural Disaster Insurance Act was amended to apply additional limitations only to disasters as defined by government standards.
The four agricultural laws passed the National Assembly's plenary session last November under the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea, but were discarded due to the former president's exercise of veto power. The grain management law and the Act on the Distribution and Price Stabilization of Agricultural and Fishery Products are expected to undergo discussions between the ruling and opposition parties in the subcommittee of the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee in the future.