59th Korea to Make Makgeolli, Pork Global Hit Products

Minister Hopes Agriculture Will Be More Profitable

By Kim Hyun-cheol

Staff Reporter

For Chang Tae-pyong, minister of food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, the current state-led campaign for globalizing Korean food is part of a big picture. The approach is linked to his bigger ambition ― to make Korean agriculture a lucrative industry.

He plans to actively foster "makgeolli," the nation's traditional rice wine, and several other products as global hit items.

"Makgeolli is worth a shot at tapping into the global market," Chang said in an exclusive interview with The Korea Times, Tuesday. "If Korean food is more appreciated in the international community as a result of its ongoing promotion, the same thing could happen to more of our traditional food items such as 'doenjang' (soybean paste) and 'gochujang' (chili sauce).

"We need more organized efforts to export our food and farming products. Currently, only a couple of items post overseas sales of over $100 million."

The popularity of the alcoholic drink is not chilling down in the overseas market as its exports have been consistently growing this year, according to recent data. Last week, the Korea Customs Service said its exports from January to September jumped 24.1 percent in volume and 23.2 percent in amount.

Once passing as a synonym for cheap drinks, makgeolli is now enjoying unprecedented success thanks to its supposed health benefits, including helping digestion and managing good skin complexion, which have been widely recognized on the back of a prevailing well-being trend in recent years.

Companies and local authorities are rolling out plans to give the traditional drink a fancy twist, including some different flavored variations and even makgeolli cocktails.

Some other items are on the bandwagon of growing outbound shipments. Exports of Korean pork meat in the first eight months of the year rose 44 percent to over 8,000 tons.

Sales in Japan also resumed last month following an agreement in August. Pork was a popular item in the neighboring country in the 1990s, but sales were halted in 2000 with the outburst of the foot-and-mouth disease here.

Now Southeast Asia is the biggest destination for Korean pork, but the Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp., an umbrella group of the agency, plans to launch a large promotional campaign to encourage Japanese customers to turn to the Korean product.

A career policymaker on budget and finance, Chang believes a harder push on current circumstances could make it a success.

"Few would have believed if one said what we eat and drink every day, such as makgeolli, can be globally appreciated," he told The Korea Times, citing the case of the traditional Korean rice wine. It became a toasting drink at the summit between President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Premier Yukio Hatoyama earlier this month.

"It's a matter of how to make it classy. With the help of food science and quality management skills, Korea will be able to produce high-end makgeolli products that can be appreciated throughout the globe as a posh drink," Chang said.

Pursuit of Changes in Farming

Still, work on food is only a part of what Chang did for the last 14 months since his inauguration, a period which he refers to as "days of endless and hectic running."

Replacing his predecessor Chung Woon-chun last year amid sizzling public anger on the resumption of U.S. beef, Chang had to deal with a series of daunting missions, which included soothing the prevailing sentiment against the nation's food and farming policies. He has been in different places almost every week to listen to local farmers.

"I don't have the nerve to shout out that I did everything right, but can say I was committed to what I must do," the minister said. "And I can proudly say everything was executed through agreements with interested parties."

Chang named the initiative of agricultural reform and the revision of the nation's farming cooperative, the National Agricultural Cooperatives Federation (Nonghyup), as the biggest achievement of his ministry so far.

As for the reform, the ministry is taking steps one by one. An agricultural reform committee in the ministry is currently heading all related projects, including analysis of pending issues and establishment of long-term schemes.

In July, the committee confirmed 42 of the 54 major tasks set by the minister, and the rest are also nearing completion.

The direction of the new farming administration is well signified in the minister's recent catchphrase, "With People, With Nature," according to Chang. The former part leads to the conception that agriculture is meant to support human lives, while the latter insinuates its development always should be sustainable.

"Farming should be an industry that supplies safe food to people stably," Chang said.

Korean agriculture has some issues to deal with amid turbulent circumstances. More specifically, it appears inevitable local farmers are likely to be exposed to the global stage for competition sooner or later.

The government recently forecast the upcoming completion of the free trade agreement between Korea and the European Union is likely to lead to trillions of won in losses for Korean farmers and fishermen over the next decades due to the influx of European products.

In that regard, he employs his old and solid belief that local farmers should be set to turn themselves into "individual CEOs." From years ago, a large part of his duty has been focused on introducing the concept of business management to local farmers.

Chang expects the foundation for the overall agricultural reform to be set this year, after he completes the second-phase five-year initiative to secure local farmers' quality of life later this year.

But, in addition, the efforts will be paralleled by cost-saving efforts and another reshuffle in the system supporting agriculture research and development projects.

"If everything goes as planned, this and next year will be remembered as epochal years in Korea's agriculture and fisheries history," Chang said.

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr