Korea’s pork industry leaders call for sweeping reforms

Bio-secured barns as disease shield

Mr Lee emphasized that bio-secured and climate-controlled barns are essential to breaking the vicious cycle of disease within farms. These facilities allow breeder pigs to adapt and build immunity against diseases introduced from outside.

He added that they carry public value by lowering production costs and stabilizing consumer prices.

To expand adoption, Mr Lee called for regulatory adjustments. He urged cooperation with the agriculture, land, and climate ministries to relax building‑to‑land ratios and ease emissions standards. Such changes, he explained, would create conditions for stable operations and a sustainable production base.

Boosting pork consumption and exports

Mr Lee is also working to boost domestic pork consumption and diversify export markets.

Promotional campaigns are underway to raise brand value and stimulate demand. At the same time, the association is working to establish an export base by developing overseas markets in countries such as Singapore and Mongolia.

Following a quarantine agreement with Singapore last year, about 80 tons of Jeju-raised pork were exported. Future strategies, Mr Lee said, will focus on quality‑driven marketing and new consumption trends that reflect shifting preferences. 

Improving ASF response system

Addressing African swine fever (ASF), Mr Lee called for a stronger response system. He urged fair compensation for farmers affected by culling and more practical movement restrictions. The association continues to press the government for full compensation of losses, including downtime between culling and restocking.

“It is necessary to establish a reasonable compensation system for damages not attributable to farming households, and to relax movement restriction standards to better reflect on-the-ground realities,” he explained.

“The association will continue to call on the government to make full compensation for culling a reality and to provide compensation for business losses incurred during the downtime between culling and restocking.”

Turning manure into recyclable resource

On environmental management, Mr Lee raised the need for policy support to utilize livestock manure as a recyclable resource rather than waste. He advocated wider adoption of low-carbon manure treatment facilities.

“We will enhance the environmental competitiveness of the pork industry by increasing the use of fertilizer resources, promoting the use of liquid fertilizer, and improving related systems in line with carbon neutrality policies,” he said.

“The association is pursuing the transfer of jurisdiction over liquid fertilizer, which is currently registered as a fertilizer production industry, from the Climate Ministry (under the Livestock Manure Management Act) to the Agriculture Ministry (under the Fertilizer Control Act) to unify the standards for its application.”