Agriculture in South Korea is a sector of the economy of South Korea. Korean agriculture is the basic industry of the Korean economy, consisting of farming, animal husbandry, forestry and fishing. At the time of its founding, Korea was a typical agricultural country, with more than 80% of the population engaged in agricultural production. After land reform under the Syngman Rhee administration, economic revitalization under the Park Chung-hee military government and the wave of world trade liberalization that began in the 1980s, Korean agriculture has undergone dramatic changes. Through the Green Revolution, Korea became self-sufficient in rice, the staple food, in 1978, and in 1996, Korea became the first Asian country after Japan to mechanize its agriculture with fine-grained cultivation. The development of Korean agriculture has also led to the development of agriculture-related industries such as fertilizer, agricultural machinery and seed.
The natural resources required for agriculture in South Korea are not abundant. Two thirds of the country are mountain and hill. Arable land only accounts for 22 percent of the country's land. It is one of the countries with the least arable land per capita in the world. Korea has a very low self-sufficiency rate for agricultural products, except for rice and potatoes, which are largely self-sufficient, while 85% of other foodstuffs need to be imported. In addition, Korea imports more than 60% of its beef, fish and shellfish, 20% of its fruit, poultry and milk from abroad, and only sugar and eggs are self-sufficient. Since the 1980s, with the restructuring of Korean agriculture, the area of food crops has tended to decrease, while the area of high value-added crops, vegetables and fruits has increased in proportion to the plantation industry. The most important crop in South Korea is rice, accounting for about 90 percent of the country's total grain production and over 40 percent of farm income. Other grain products heavily rely on imports from other countries. Farms range in size from small, family-owned farms to large corporations, but most are small-scale and rely heavily on government support and services in order to survive.
In the 1960s, Korea's economy began to grow at a rapid pace, creating the "Han River Miracle". In 2005, the share of agriculture in Korea's GDP fell to 2.9 percent from 50 percent at the start of the country's history. With urbanization and industrialization, Korea's agricultural population has been lost and is aging, with the proportion of people employed in agriculture falling from 50% to 8.5% between 1970 and 2000, and to 7% in 2008.
History Early history
During the Paleolithic period (in Korea beginning approximately 10,000 years ago), hunting and gathering took place on the Korean Peninsula. Primitive grain grinding stones and various types of picks excavated from the Neolithic remains at Watpo-ri, Rojin Pioneer City, North Hamgyong Province, indicate that primitive agricultural cultivation had also begun there. Due to low productivity, hunting and gathering were still the main means of survival. Settled subsistence farming and complex societies with mixed crop farming and bulk fish capture are deduced from over 500 Neolithic Korean sites.Shin, S.C., Rhee, S.N. and Aikens, C.M., 2012. Chulmun Neolithic intensification, complexity, and emerging agriculture in Korea. Asian Perspectives, pp.68-109. The Chulmun/Jeulmun sites are an example. Early crops included milletPYŎNG-SAM, H.A.N., 1974. Neolithic Culture of Korea. Korea Journal, 14(4), pp.12-17. and rice.Jaehoon, L., 2017. Agricultural practice on the Korean Peninsula taking into account the origin of rice agriculture in Asia. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia, 45(1), pp.36-48. However, the precise date of domesticated rice cultivation in Korea has been disputed for early periods. It is accepted for 3,000 BC onwards (late Neolithic) as infrequent, but very frequent for the Bronze Age onwards (in Korea 1300 - 300 BC). It has also been suggested that the Bronze Age culture of Songguk-ri provides evidence of a change in subsistence strategy to the establishment of rice paddy culture and away from a hunter-gatherer emphasis. During the Bronze Age, the production of bronze agricultural tools indicates the importance of agriculture as against hunting and gathering. Based on remains of rice at Songguk-ri, it is considered that at this time, rice was a community food, not the luxury/ currency that it became in historical times. At the beginning of the Iron Age, irrigated plow farming methods began to appear, and productivity was further improved. Iron sickles are thought to indicate that longer-grain plumper rice varieties ripened together and were harvested together.
8th to 14th centuries In the Silla period (57 BC- 935) there were government programmes for securing the promulgation of better seeds, of irrigation and for reduction of pests. The early study of agronomy and the means of improving agricultural practice are seen in public farming during the reign of Seongdeok of Silla (AD 722). Heungdeok of Silla in the early ninth century secured the introduction of ginseng seeds from Tang China and growth of them experimentally in Chiri/ Jirisan.At page 464 in Encyclopaedia Korea its land, people and culture of all ages (1960) Hakwon-sa Ltd, under Agronomy. At this time, teas and silk were also propagated.
In the Goryeo period (918-1392), various farm tools were invented (spades, plows, shovels) and water wheels were introduced from South China. In 1365 cotton was brought for cultivation from the area of Vietnam.
The Joseon dynasty
According to the oldest agricultural book in South Korea, "Nongsa chiksŏl", in the 15th century, the most extensive agricultural cultivations in South Korea were yellow rice, millet, soybeans and rice, followed by crops such as wheat and ginseng. In the mid- sixteenth century, the transplanting method gradually became a common method of paddy field cultivation. In the 18th century, the transplanting method was not only extended to Tianshui paddy fields (rice fields that can only be irrigated by rain), but also used in paddy and dry land agriculture. The original direct seeding method of planting rice was also improved. Fertilisation techniques date from the 16th century, and from the 18th century irrigation and double-cropping of mixed crops ensured high produce yields.
Writings in agronomy flourished in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Pak Chiwŏn was one of several contemporary writers attempting to improve production methods in Korea.Encyclopaedia Korea its land, people and culture of all ages (1960) Hakwon-sa Ltd, under Agronomy (at 465)
During the Joseon Dynasty, agriculture developed to a more advanced level again, but forest degradation was a major result of the firewood burning heating systems of homes. In the 18th century rationalist scholar Seo Yu Gu, author of the 113-volume Encyclopedia Koreana on Rural Living, complained about the huge cost and environmental impact of the heating systems (Ondol). By the 19th century Ondol had caused whole mountains to be completely bare and prone to landslides in rain whereby crops were destroyed. According to the Geography Records of Sejong, the agricultural early field in the early Joseon Dynasty had an absolute advantage: the estimated ratio of water early field in Gyeonggi Province and other areas was 28% to 72%.
The 20th century
The Japanese colonial period 1910-1945
From 1907 Japanese nationals were legally able to own Korean farmland. The Oriental Development Company (a Japanese concern) was set up in 1908 with the aim of controlling Korean lands, initially under its 10-year plan. By 1916 that company owned approximately 104,000 hectares of Korean farmland.Encyclopaedia Korea its land, people and culture of all ages (1960) Hakwon-sa Ltd, under Land Exploitation (at 92-3) The Land Survey Bureau of the Governor-General embarked upon a recording of ownerships and boundaries, a process said to have led to educated yangban exploiting the system for their own benefit and to some 331,748 farmers finding they were landless and needing to work the land of another.At 93 in Encyclopaedia Korea its land, people and culture of all ages (1960) Hakwon-sa Ltd, under Land Exploitation In the period 1910 - 1925 over 278,000 farmers emigrated to Manchuria, and a further 126,000 left for unskilled labouring jobs in Japan. Japanese fiscal policy designed to modernise and increase production saw production rise, but not so as to keep pace with exports of food to Japan.At 95 in Encyclopaedia Korea its land, people and culture of all ages (1960) Hakwon-sa Ltd, under Japanese Capital. See Table Production of Rice and Volume of Export 1912-1940. Efforts were made to bridge the Korean food gap with coarse grain imported from ManchuriaAt 95 in Encyclopaedia Korea its land, people and culture of all ages (1960) Hakwon-sa Ltd, under Japanese Capital (at 95) but extreme poverty and regular starvation of the Korean peasant class (73.6% of the Korean population) resulted.Encyclopaedia Korea its land, people and culture of all ages (1960) Hakwon-sa Ltd, under Farmers' Plight (at 95)
The Japanese founded around 1920 the first Korean agriculture college, at Suwon. The college ran Stations for the students, each with a specific focus. Thus, for example, there were the Silk Worm Station, the Forest Station, the Agricultural Experimentation Station, and the Animal-care Station. Around one quarter of the students were Korean.At 465 in Encyclopaedia Korea its land, people and culture of all ages (1960) Hakwon-sa Ltd, under Agronomy.
After the Second World War In the 1945-1960 period, annual increases of farm production took place.Encyclopaedia Korea its land, people and culture of all ages (1960) Hakwon-sa Ltd, under Land Reform at 102 The agricultural industry in this period experienced land redistribution, rural poverty and late investment as well as the disruption of war.
The Farmland Reform Law of 1949 abolishing tenancies in South Korea was designed to effect changes in land tenure. Under the new law, the government purchased land from landlords then allocated a maximum of 3 hectares of land to each farmer. In the 4 years prior to it, 44% of tenanted land was sold. The remaining 56% was redistributed under the reform. This affected approximately 470,000 hectares of agricultural land. Owner-operators were 14% of total in 1945, rising to 70% by 1965.See page 6 Land Reform Programs in East and Southeast Asia: a comparative approach Antonio J Ledesma Research Paper No 69, November 1976 ISSN, 0084-0815 University of Wisconsin.
Government policy in the years immediately following the Korean War 1950-1953 did not permit of much investment in agriculture, despite its importance to many people, because of the urgent need to reinvest in defence and reconstruction. Less than 10% of spending went for agriculture, and was largely limited to restoration works for irrigation and purchase of fertiliser from the United States. Grain imports from the US met food gaps.Moon, P.Y., 1988. Agricultural Policy Reforms in South Korea: Motivations, Features and Effects (No. 993-2016-77645, pp. 430-443).