WTO 출범 후 한국 농업구조 변화에 관한 연구

A Study on the Structural Changes in Korean Agriculture after the WTO

This paper examines the overall structural changes in Korean agriculture after the WTO (World Trade Organization), seeking some policy implications for the future development of Korean agriculture. Empirical data over ten years before 1995 are compared with those over the same period after 1995 to see how the agricultural structure has changed since the WTO. The results show that there have been substantial structural changes in Korean agriculture in the light of agricultural GDP (gross domestic product), production, farm income, agricultural prices, and trade. Agricultural GDP, in particular, which had rapidly grown at an annual rate of 8.6% in nominal term over ten years before the WTO has sharply contracted to 0.9% in annual growth rate after the WTO, meaning that Korean agriculture has entered the era of long-run stagnation. To regain the past growth momentum in agriculture, it is suggested that the Korean agriculture should be changed to more efficient and competitive agriculture by converting the agricultural structure into capital- and technology-intensive one, along with continuous technical innovation.