Members of the Democratic Party of Korea, part of the National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee, expressed confidence on the 31st that additional imports of U.S. rice and beef will be excluded from the agenda at the upcoming South Korea-U.S. summit. As South Korea and the U.S. agreed to discuss 'quarantine procedures' separately, they stated that there is no evidence to support concerns that the acceleration of quarantine procedures for certain agricultural products could lead to market openings.
Democratic Party of Korea members from the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee held a press conference in the National Assembly's communication room that afternoon and highly praised the resolution of the South Korea-U.S. trade negotiations, stating, 'We have preserved the safety of the nation's food supply and food security, while also alleviating uncertainties for our corporations' exports to the U.S.'
Earlier, South Korea and the U.S. agreed not to allow additional imports of U.S. rice and beef in trade negotiations. The U.S. had demanded an expansion of imports for rice and beef from cattle over 30 months old, but our government defended against the additional market opening demands by emphasizing food sovereignty.
Rep. Lee Won-taek, the ruling party's secretary of the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans, and Fisheries Committee, stated, 'We believe that rice and beef will also be excluded from the negotiations at the South Korea-U.S. summit. We should trust this because it was announced by the government.'
U.S. President Donald Trump claimed on the 30th (local time) on his social media platform Truth Social that 'South Korea has agreed to accept U.S. products, including automobiles, trucks, and agriculture,' to which he responded, 'South Korea and the U.S. have already opened 99.7% of agricultural products under the FTA (Free Trade Agreement),' adding, 'I agree with the interpretation that this is a political statement.'
While South Korea and the U.S. prevented the expansion of rice and beef imports, they decided to continue technical discussions regarding agricultural product quarantine procedures.
According to the FTA, South Korea and the U.S. are currently undergoing an eight-step quarantine procedure called 'Import Risk Analysis (IRA)' when importing agricultural products. It typically takes over 10 years to import a single agricultural product, but there are concerns in the agricultural sector that easing quarantine procedures could accelerate market openings.
In response, Rep. Lee stated, 'There may be requests from the U.S. side to improve agricultural quarantine procedures,' but added, 'Quarantine should be agreed upon at a level that is objectively verifiable, as it is a field of science. There has been no confirmation of any content that states a specific crop should be quarantined rapidly.'