President Lee Myung-bak on Friday called for policies to better support the nation's farm villages, saying their advancement is a precondition for making a truly advanced society.
"It can become a truly advanced society only when its rural villages are advanced," Lee was quoted by his spokesman Lee Gil-ho as saying while being briefed about the agricultural ministry's policy goals for next year.
"Providing necessary facilities and low-interest loans should be the goal" of the government's policy toward farm villages, he said.
Lee, in particular, said that South Korean farmers would become more competitive than any other farmers in the world should the support be made based on "cool-headed love" for them.
"What the president meant by 'cool-headed love' is that the nation should render support for farmers but in a way to help them foster self-sustainability," the spokesman added. (Yonhap)