South Korea Agriculture & Food insights

Yeonggwang County (County Chief Jang Se-il) participated in the '2025 Republic of Korea Happy Farming and Rural Settlement Expo' held at KINTEX Hall 7 from the 18th to 21st, promoting the county's farming and rural settlement policies and outstanding cases. At this expo, which featured 209 participating companies and 444 booths, the county achieved the notable feat of winning the 'Excellence Award'. The Republic of Korea Happy Farming and Rural Settlement Expo is an event held to provide various information to prospective rural settlers and encourage stable settlement, where local governments nationwide participate to introduce their policies and support programs. This year, the expo was held together with the 'Republic of Korea International Tourism Expo', offering diverse exhibition

Korea Racing Authority held a 'Corporate Exploration Camp' on the 12th at Let's Run Park Seoul for college students with disabilities, aimed at career exploration and enhancing employment capabilities. This camp was designed to provide disabled college students an opportunity to experience the organization and horse industry firsthand, and to share employment information through mentoring programs with new employees. Participants began with a tour of the horse stables and directly experienced the horse industry, including watching live horse racing. Following the experience, a conversation with new employees was held, providing mentoring on job preparation processes, employment know-how, practical experience, and organizational life.

(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Park Su-yun = Despite ongoing international organization concerns about food shortages, North Korea has claimed that this year's wheat harvest is not bad. The Workers' Party organ Rodong Sinmun reported on the 20th in a front-page article titled "Agricultural Revolution Brought by the New Era's Rural Revolution Program" that "this year's wheat and barley harvest has been completed on time, with the national grain production plan being over-fulfilled and expected to increase more than threefold compared to the 2021 wheat harvest." The newspaper reported that "wheat cultivation area has continued to increase every year, with this year alone expanding by over 30,000 jeongbo (90 million pyeong, 1 jeongbo = 3,000 pyeong) compared to last year." North Korea's largest grain-producing region, South Hwanghae Province, increased its wheat cultivation area by over 10,000 jeongbo compared to last year, noting that "wheat land area secured by the first half of this year has recorded the highest performance." For North Hwanghae Province, another representative grain-producing region, they self-assessed that they "harvested an unprecedented bumper crop." They also mentioned "achieving a surprising result in the Mirubul area, where farms previously only harvested about 3 tons per jeongbo of corn, by planting wheat as the main crop and producing over 2 tons more per jeongbo on average compared to before." Existing corn farmland is being replaced with wheat. At the 8th Party Congress 4th Plenary Meeting in late 2021, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared a transition in 'grain production structure', stating he would "change the people's dietary culture to focus on white rice and wheat flour-based foods." According to the Rural Development Administration's "2024 North Korean Food Crop Production Estimate" released last December, North Korea's wheat and barley production last year was 280,000 tons, a 60,000-ton (27.3%) increase from the previous year. North Korea's propaganda about a successful wheat harvest is interpreted as an attempt to showcase agricultural sector achievements, with only six months remaining in the 'National Economic Development Five-Year Plan'. The international community