(LEAD) PM asks Yoon to veto grain bill

Politics 17:06 March 29, 2023

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with additional info; AMENDS headline)

SEOUL, March 29 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday he made a suggestion to President Yoon Suk Yeol on vetoing a contentious bill requiring government purchase of surplus rice.

Han made the remarks after a policy consultation meeting with the ruling party on the revision to the Grain Management Act passed by the opposition-controlled National Assembly last week.

"The government cannot go down the road expected to be a failure ... We ask the National Assembly, the farming industry and the people to understand it is a decision for the national interest and the farmers to go down the right path," Han said.

Han said the envisioned bill will throw the rice farming industry into a bigger crisis by paralyzing the market's control of supply and demand, exhausting funds while not benefiting national food security, which should be used for the future of the farming industry.

More than 1 trillion won (US$767 million) of financial burden will arise annually if the bill is passed, Han said, noting the money can be used to create 300 smart farms and foster about 50,000 workers for the farming industry.

Yoon has been widely expected to veto the bill, which requires the government to buy excess rice if production exceeds the estimate of demand by 3-5 percent, or if prices fall by 5-8 percent or more compared with the previous year.

Earlier Wednesday, Rep. Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, also asked the president to veto the bill.