Bill for direct election of NACF chair passes agriculture committee; opposition boycotts meeting in protest

[Financial News] The National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee passed an amendment to the Agricultural Cooperatives Act on the 11th, led by the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). The amendment would elect the chair of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF) through a direct vote by cooperative members. The People Power Party opposed the bill and did not attend the meeting that day.
The amendment, which cleared the committee that day, would switch the method of electing the NACF chair to a direct vote by cooperative members starting in 2028. It also provides for the establishment of an independent body, the NongHyup Audit Committee, to audit the organization as a whole.
The government and ruling party have pursued reform of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, citing various allegations of misconduct surrounding NACF Chairman Kang Ho-dong and others. The bill passed by the committee that day is also part of that reform effort. The DPK expects direct elections for the NACF chair to better reflect members’ wishes and strengthen democratic representation. It also says that establishing an independent audit committee could strengthen external oversight.
The People Power Party, by contrast, made clear its opposition to the bill and boycotted the full committee meeting that day.
Earlier, People Power Party lawmakers on the committee held a press conference at the National Assembly on the 3rd and said, “Under the amendment to the Agricultural Cooperatives Act that the ruling party railroaded through the subcommittee, government-recommended figures would sit on the body that recommends key NACF personnel.” They added, “The Lee Jae-myung administration pressured farmers’ livelihoods by conducting a comprehensive survey of farmland, and now it is trying to bring even the NACF, a self-governing organization, under the government’s control.”
They also criticized the bill, saying, “Presenting legislation that even the NACF has not agreed to as a ‘broad agreement for the greater good’ is a deception of the public. It is a government-controlled Nonghyup bill intended to expand the government’s influence over the NACF through audit and personnel powers.”
  
[email protected] Kim Hyeong-gu Reporter