Progress and Challenges of Direct Payment Programs in Korean Agricultural Sector

This study reviews the situation of Korean direct payment programs and examines the characteristics and limitations of current programs. After the launch of WTO system in 1995, a series of agricultural policy reforms have been conducted in Korea. Particularly Korean government has introduced the various kinds of direct payment programs to cope with the agricultural market liberalization. The Korean direct payment programs are characterized in the low share of budget and concentration on rice farming. The performance evaluation of current Korean direct payment programs is not optimistic because of confliction with structural adjustment and incompatibility in individual direct payment programs. Further efforts for improvement of direct payment system are required to ensure that programs are more compatible with structural adjustment, more balanced between rice farming and other farming and more transparently monitored in operation.