Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mack the knife]

Korea signed a trade agreement with rice exporting nations in which it pledged to open up its rice market. Today in the lovely Herald I read that the Korean parliament is considering reneging on the deal because of "public sentiment". Why this is a terrible move:

A) Korean consumers pay a premium for all sorts of goods because of the governments trade policies, and suffer for it (but they seem not to care or are ignorant of open market and competition principles). Examples: electronics, automobiles, consumables. Opening markets=lower prices=more money in consumers' pockets=happier people. Simple. Also, the fact that price fixing is rampant and [de facto] legal further hurts consumers.

B) Trade deals may fall through all the time, but this one has been in the works forever, and basically is a [fair] ultimatum from many rice exporting countries. Korea has been given enough leeway to get back on its feet. Now it's just being protectionist, which may help producers (in the short term) but ultimately leads to self-destruction when those producers can no longer produce the quality or quantity of goods necessary to sustain an economy.

C) Reneging on this deal will make countries think twice about doing business deals with Korea in the future. Same thing has been happening in China.

Frankly, it will probably take a drought or some other natural disaster to make the government (and farmers) realize that Korea cannot forever depend on its own produce (or any products for that matter) to sustain its people.

[Gwangjuboy]

Koreans pay far too much for rice. Basically, the government, and farmers can just make up the price as they go along. The most annoying thing is that a lot of the surplus rice gets sent to North Korea to feed its army.

[Bulsajo]

I was under the impression that Korea protects rice (and rice farmers) the for the same reasons the US and Canada subsidsize their farmers.

I'm not surprised that Korea protects its rice farmers so that they aren't 100% dependent on foreign countries for their food staple (even if it's pretty much just an empty symbolic gesture); I'm surprised they ever agreed to open the market up in the first place.

I suspect that in Korea there's an emotional/cultural attachment to domestic rice production that defies logic and the foreigners will never completely understand.

[Col.Brandon]

Farming is a strategic industry. Governments protect their agricultural production because there may come a day when the country has to rely on itself for food production.

That's why all those inefficient boutique farms in Switzerland and France are tolerated; they may be vital to the nation's survival in time of war.

[mack the knife]

[matthewwoodford]

Rice here doesn't exactly break the bank. Can anyone in all of Korea *not* afford rice?

On the other hand you're prepared to devastate the rural economy, leave thousands of farmers and their dependents without any means to make a living, damage rural society, and leave Korea strategically weak in that it would be dependent on rice imports. All for what? Saving a couple of hundred won on a bag of rice?

[Thunndarr]

[Moldy Rutabaga]

One way to get yourself lynched in Canada is to bring up the idea of selling water to the Americans. There are some sacred cows that just can't be touched, and maybe rice is that to Koreans.

As to the repercussions, I don't know. It's not free trade if nations just pick and choose what will be free to benefit themselves, but knowing Asia this is probably what will happen.

Ken:>

[Ya-ta Boy]

Korea agreed about 10 years ago to partially open the rice market. The government then was supposed to develop programs to help farmers modernize and diversify. It failed to do so. The farmers failed to do so.

The agricultural culture has already been destroyed beyond recovery. The small villages are practically empty, except for the elderly. I'm sure you've heard of all the Chinese women brought in to marry the Korean farmers.

Korea produces far more rice than it needs. Warehouses are full of unused rice. (In spite of that, the price remains high.) Modernized farming would reduce the number of farms and add to the unemployment problem.

The real problem is that Korea survives by free trade in which foreign governments must summon the political will to open to Korean products while Korean governments don't have the will to do anything but maybe take bribes so the officials can go to the noraebangs.

[mack the knife]

We can compare (in principle) Korea's protectionist rice market with the auto market in America. If American pride got in the way of clear thinking, as it has in Korea, America could stop buying cars from Japan and Korea and elsewhere and instead depend entirely on its own auto industry (forever, if necessary). However, this would not be economically advisable, as consumers (read: YOU and I) would suffer greatly due to the increased prices stemming from lack of competition. Not to mention the fact that foreign auto companies typically offer better warranties, etc. (Kia comes to mind).

By the way, Koreans don't grow the healthiest form of rice, either. Check this site out [url]www.pechsiam.com [/url]if you don't believe me. Korean rice is CRAPOLA.

Why, in Korea, do people seem to care more about the producers than the consumers? It just doesn't make sense. It's not capitalist thinking (in a capitalist market you lower prices to attract customers and encourage competition), and it's certainly not socialist thinking (in a socialist/communist economy the government would be selling most of the rice). What the f**k kind of economic thinking is going on here?

[Hollywoodaction]

[mack the knife]

[desultude]

Korean rice is excellent. If they lower trade barriers, the market will be flooded with vastly inferior Vietnamese rice. Korean rice farmers will be put out of business, and we then no longer have a choice, either. Instead of being forced to buy good rice, we will have no choice but to buy crap rice. This is a very good reason to protect Korean rice farmers.

This is not a slam on Vietnam- I love Vietnamese food, but there rice, which is extremely cheap and plentiful, is not good.

[rapier]

Well..its worked for them so far hasn't it? why change...I mean Korea is the worlds 10th largest economy- why devastate it now in order to save 100won on a bag of bap?

Also, I'd hate to see Korea's paddy fields become redundant overnight and converted into golf courses and appartment complexes- accelerating the already severe environmental degradation here.

[Dan]

I don't know squat about rice, but I do know Koreans are freaking irrational when it comes to home grown anything, and you know rice is way up on that irrational ladder.