Farm, fisheries groups launch task force to oppose CPTPP entry

Workers from Korea’s agricultural, livestock, fishery and forestry industries launched an emergency committee in Seoul on Monday to oppose possible government entry into the CPTPP. They said joining would increase imports, hurt market share and livelihoods, and weaken quarantine sovereignty. The government has not announced a final decision, but officials have recently said they are reviewing and gathering public opinion.

The CPTPP has been ratified by 12 countries, including Japan, Canada, Australia, Mexico and Vietnam.

In June, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said it would carefully consider joining the CPTPP while taking stakeholders’ views and domestic and external conditions into account.

Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said early last month that the government would review the possibility of joining the pact.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said later that month he would begin gathering public opinion on the issue.

The protesters said they plan to ask relevant ministries next Monday for updates and stage a large-scale rally in Seoul on Oct. 15.

Published Sep 21, 2026 4:57 pm KST

Cheaper imports feared to wipe out domestic produce

Participants in a ceremony marking the launch of a task force opposing Korea’s entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership call on the government to protect the country’s agricultural, livestock, fishery and forestry industries at the Press Center in Seoul, Monday. Korea Times photo by Ko Dong-hwan

Workers from Korea’s agricultural, livestock, fishery and forestry industries on Monday jointly launched an emergency committee to oppose the government’s potential entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

They argued that joining the trade pact would increase imports into Korea, threatening their market share and livelihoods.

The launch of the CPTPP Task Force came as the government has yet to announce whether it will join the pact, which has been ratified by 12 countries, including Japan, Canada, Australia, Mexico and Vietnam. In June, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources denied a local media report that the government had decided to join the pact, saying it would “carefully consider joining the CPTPP, taking into account stakeholders’ views as well as domestic and external conditions.”

Early last month, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said the government would review the possibility of joining the pact. Later that month, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said at a meeting of ministers of international economic affairs that he would begin gathering public opinion on the issue.

The protesters, citing a series of recent government steps that they said appeared to signal a move toward joining the CPTPP, criticized the government at a press conference in Seoul Monday. They said the government was pushing ahead with the measure without sharing detailed information on its potential impact and economic damage to domestic industries. They also claimed that the government had publicly downplayed the possibility of joining the pact while pushing ahead with preparations behind the scenes, ignoring their concerns.

The new committee said it had requested the ministries responsible for the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors to provide detailed data on how imports from CPTPP member states could affect each domestic industry.

“Japan, after joining the CPTPP, has been additionally importing an average of 220 billion won ($159 million) worth of fresh produce each year. If we join the pact, we will face aggressive trade conditions from CPTPP member countries, including tariff reductions, which will lead to an influx of cheaper imports,” said Kang Jeong-hyun of the Korean Rural Leaders’ Central Association in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, who organized the conference.

Officials from NongHyup’s Chungnam-Sejong regional office spray water on the roof and surrounding areas of a barn at a cattle ranch in Hongseong County, South Chungcheong Province, using a disinfection vehicle to cool the facility amid a prolonged heat wave, Aug. 5. Courtesy of NongHyup

“More seriously, even if a contagious disease outbreak or pestilence occurred in one of the member states, the CPTPP supports region-based quarantine measures and allows that country to continue exporting. That would completely undermine our quarantine sovereignty against countries posing evident biological threats. Japan is also planning to export seafood from waters contaminated by radioactivity following the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster once we join the pact.”

Representatives of 76 local civic groups from the industries that supported the launch of the CPTPP Task Force condemned the government at the conference. Noh Man-ho, CEO of the Korea Federation of Comprehensive Agricultural Organizations, said Korean farmers are already suffering from an aging workforce, labor shortages, rising production costs, unstable market prices, extreme weather conditions and years of competition with cheaper imports.

“Our average annual income is merely 10 million won, and we are losing young farmers. If the country opens our market further to more countries at this point, we will literally die. Before deciding to open our market to more countries, the government must calculate the measure’s impact on the farming sector. We’re not asking for any privileges. We want the government to safeguard the country’s fundamental industries that produce the food on our tables,” he said at the conference.

Kim Hyang-suk, chairwoman of the Women Advanced Farmers’ Federation in Seoul, said farmers’ incomes had remained largely unchanged for the past 30 years while costs had risen, driving their net incomes to record lows. Even as they tried to improve productivity and quality in line with government regulations, what they witnessed was a prolonged slump and mounting debt, she added.

“Further opening our market to more countries at this point will threaten small farms and the livelihoods of female farmers in particular. We do not have enough resources or people to compete against an onslaught of imports,” she said. “Without female farmers, there is no future for sustainable agriculture. Agriculture is difficult to recover once disrupted. What we want is not special treatment. All we want is to be able to get by day after day, raise our children and safely supply our produce to the public.”

The protesters said the CPTPP Task Force would ask relevant ministries next Monday to share updates on the government’s consideration of joining the pact and stage a large-scale rally in Seoul on Oct. 15.

周一，韩国农牧渔业林业从业人员在首尔成立了一个紧急委员会，反对政府可能加入《全面与进步跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》（CPTPP）。他们表示，加入该协定将增加进口，损害市场份额和生计，并削弱韩国的检疫自主权。政府尚未宣布最终决定，但官员们近日表示，他们正在审查相关情况并收集公众意见。

CPTPP已获得包括日本、加拿大、澳大利亚、墨西哥和越南在内的12个国家的批准。

今年6月，贸易、工业和资源部表示，将认真考虑加入CPTPP，同时兼顾各利益相关方的意见以及国内外情况。

工业和产业部长官金正冠上月初表示，政府将重新考虑加入该协议的可能性。

副总理兼财政部长具润哲当月晚些时候表示，他将开始就此问题征求公众意见。

抗议者表示，他们计划下周一向相关部门询问最新情况，并于10月15日在首尔举行大规模集会。

发布于2026年9月21日下午4:57（韩国标准时间）

廉价进口产品恐怕会摧毁国内产品。

周一，在首尔新闻中心举行的反对韩国加入《全面与进步跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》（CPTPP）特别工作组成立仪式上，与会者呼吁政府保护韩国的农业、畜牧业、渔业和林业。韩国时报摄影师高东焕（音译）摄。

周一，韩国农业、畜牧业、渔业和林业的工人联合成立了一个紧急委员会，反对政府可能加入《全面与进步跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》（CPTPP）。

他们认为，加入该贸易协定将增加韩国的进口量，威胁到他们的市场份额和生计。

在政府尚未宣布是否加入《全面与进步跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》（CPTPP）之际，CPTPP工作组正式成立。该协定已获得包括日本、加拿大、澳大利亚、墨西哥和越南在内的12个国家的批准。今年6月，韩国产业通商资源部否认了当地媒体关于政府已决定加入该协定的报道，称政府将“认真考虑是否加入CPTPP，并充分考虑各利益相关方的意见以及国内外形势”。

上月初，产业通商资源部长官金正宽表示，政府将重新评估加入该协议的可能性。当月晚些时候，副总理兼财政部长具润哲在国际经济事务部长会议上表示，他将开始就此问题征求公众意见。

抗议者周一在首尔举行的新闻发布会上批评政府，他们指出政府近期一系列举措似乎表明韩国正朝着加入《全面与进步跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》（CPTPP）的方向迈进。他们表示，政府在没有提供详细信息的情况下就推进该措施，而这些信息可能对国内产业造成影响和经济损失。他们还声称，政府一方面公开淡化加入该协定的可能性，另一方面却在幕后推进相关准备工作，无视他们的担忧。

新成立的委员会表示，已要求负责农业、渔业和林业部门的各部委提供详细数据，说明从 CPTPP 成员国进口的产品会对各国内产业产生怎样的影响。

“日本加入CPTPP后，每年平均额外进口价值2200亿韩元（约合1.59亿美元）的新鲜农产品。如果我们加入该协定，我们将面临来自CPTPP成员国的更严格的贸易条件，包括关税削减，这将导致大量廉价进口商品涌入，”组织此次会议的京畿道水原市韩国农村领导人中央协会的姜正铉（音译）说道。

8月5日，在持续高温天气下，农协忠南世宗地区办事处的工作人员驾驶消毒车，向忠清南道洪城郡一家养牛场的牛棚屋顶及周边区域喷洒降温设备。图片由农协提供。

“更严重的是，即使某个成员国爆发传染病或瘟疫，《全面与进步跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》（CPTPP）也支持基于区域的检疫措施，并允许该国继续出口。这将彻底破坏我们对构成明显生物威胁的国家的检疫主权。此外，日本还计划在我们加入该协定后，从福岛核电站事故后受放射性污染的水域出口海产品。”

支持成立CPTPP工作组的76个地方民间团体代表在会议上谴​​责了政府。韩国综合农业组织联合会首席执行官卢万浩表示，韩国农民已经饱受劳动力老龄化、劳动力短缺、生产成本上升、市场价格不稳定、极端天气以及多年来与廉价进口产品的竞争之苦。

“我们平均年收入只有1000万韩元，而且年轻农民正在流失。如果国家现在进一步向更多国家开放市场，我们真的会活不下去。政府在决定向更多国家开放市场之前，必须评估这项措施对农业部门的影响。我们并非要求任何特权。我们只是希望政府能够保护国家赖以生存的基础产业，这些产业生产着我们餐桌上的粮食。”他在会议上说道。

首尔女子先进农民联合会会长金香淑表示，过去30年来，农民收入基本没有变化，而成本却不断上涨，导致他们的净收入跌至历史新低。她补充说，尽管农民们努力按照政府规定提高生产力和产品质量，但他们面临的却是长期的经济低迷和债务不断攀升。

“此时进一步向更多国家开放市场将威胁到小型农场，尤其是女性农民的生计。我们没有足够的资源和人力来应对进口产品的冲击，”她说道。“没有女性农民，可持续农业就没有未来。农业一旦受到冲击，就很难恢复。我们想要的不是特殊待遇。我们想要的只是能够维持生计，养育子女，并安全地向公众供应我们的产品。”

抗议者表示，CPTPP工作组将于下周一要求相关部门分享政府考虑加入该协议的最新进展，并于10月15日在首尔举行大规模集会。