Minister Song Mi-ryung of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said on the 28th that "it is impossible to increase the import quota for U.S. rice," adding that "rice and beef are the 'red line'," which she said is the government's consistent position.
Minister Song, at the National Assembly's Agriculture. Food. Rural Affairs. Oceans. and Fisheries Committee audit that day, answered a question from People Power Party lawmaker Kang Myeong-gu regarding comments by Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister Cho Hyun by saying, "We cannot adjust country-by-country quotas as we please."
Earlier, People Power Party lawmakers on the Agriculture. Food. Rural Affairs. Oceans. and Fisheries Committee demanded an apology, saying Minister Cho Hyun had spoken at the audit in a way that suggested expanding the rice import quota was possible. In response, Minister Song denied any confusion within the government's position, saying, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not the negotiating entity."
Addressing criticism that the Agriculture Ministry may have been excluded from the trade negotiation process, Minister Song drew a line, saying, "Not at all." She went on to explain, "From the outset in official negotiations, we strongly stated that rice and beef are a red line."
When People Power Party lawmaker Seo Cheon-ho again asked about the possibility of expanding the quota, Minister Song reiterated, "That rice and beef are a red line is our government's consistent position," and emphasized, "I reiterate that we have never held any official consultations for additional market opening."
Regarding the possibility of increasing imports of U.S. soybeans, Minister Song flatly dismissed it, saying, "We are not at all considering expanding soybean imports." Song said, "It seems this may be speculation arising from the U.S.-China context in which China has effectively halted imports of U.S. soybeans."
Korea is obligated under the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement to import a certain amount of rice each year. Of the current annual 408,700 tons of rice, about 136,000 tons are from the United States, and the government has maintained rice and beef as "non-negotiable items" even in the renegotiation of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
On this day, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a joint release by related ministries that "the government has given important consideration to the sensitivity of agriculture during the negotiation process and has consistently maintained the position that additional opening for rice is our side's red line," adding, "The government has neither reviewed nor proposed to the U.S. side any expansion of the U.S. rice import quota, and agreed with the U.S. side not to pursue additional opening for rice."