President says improving quality key to farmers' competitiveness

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak called Wednesday for efforts to
boost incomes for the country's farmers, saying improving the competitiveness and
quality of their products is key to preparing for opening of the country's
market.

"What you must look forward to is that in less than 10 years from now, our per
capita income will reach US$30,000, and when that happens, healthy food will sell
better than cheap foodstuff," the president said in a meeting with farmers in
Anseong, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul.
"When people become twice as rich, their eating habits change. There will be more
people who eat more expensive foods," Lee told the meeting that followed a
rice-planting event.
The president agreed a year ago to lift a three-year-old ban on U.S. beef
imports, a move that shortly after led to months of violent street protests here
and a dramatic plunge of public support for his government.
Last year's protest rallies mostly focused on the risks of mad cow disease posed
by U.S. beef, but concerns about possible threats to the Korean beef industry
also fueled public unrest.
President Lee said the reason U.S. or any other beef imports posed any threat to
Korean farmers was because there currently is not a big enough market for Korean
beef.
"Once 10 percent of China's entire population, or some 130 million Chinese,
become better off than we are, they will start eating more imported agricultural
products," Lee said, noting China already buys large amounts of farm produce from
Japan, whose prices are apparently higher than those of Korea.
"Though we prefer cheaper beef now, we will never trade off Korean beef for any
other beef. People will eat Korean beef no matter how expensive it is when their
income increases," he added.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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