FFTC Agricultural Policy Platform (FFTC-AP)

Dr. Jeongbin Im

Professor

Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development

College of Agricultural and Life Science

Seoul National University

Seoul, Korea

E-mail: jeongbin@snu.ac.kr

 

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) has announced the development plan of Saemangeum reclaimed land in July, 2013. MAFRA started construction of a 1,513 hectare-wide agricultural zone with favorable development conditions after the successful internal waterproofing in 2010. Eventually MAFRA will develop 12,360ha of the Saemangeum reclaimed land for agricultural purposes, which accounts for agricultural sites (8,580ha), ecological and environmental sites (930ha), new regeneration energy industry site (1,300ha) and rural villages (460ha). The agricultural site will be developed for the cultivation of high-quality export agriculture grafted onto state-of-the-art technologies in conjunction with neighboring ecological and environmental sites and rural village development. 

 

In order to use the reclaimed land as an agricultural site, MAFRA started waterproofing nine areas of 54.2km in length in 2010 to form the banks of the internal reclaimed land. This will be 56% completed by the end of 2013 with the goal of completion in 2015. MAFRA will construct a high-tech agriculture demonstration, horticulture, grand agriculture business, and agricultural industry cluster complexes by 2017, at a cost of 145.6 billion KRW in the 1,513 hectare wide agriculture zone located near Dongjin River as the first initiative among seven agricultural zone construction sites. Construction for the rest of the agricultural zones (7,057ha) and ecological & environmental sites will begin in 2015 and completed by 2020. Construction of agricultural zone is significant in terms of being the first practical implementation of development plan at Saemangeum and future agricultural sites are expected to form a foothold for the attainment of high-tech agriculture combined with state-of-the-art agricultural technologies and research. 

 

Also MAFRA has been making efforts to establish a tourism infrastructure to promote Saemangeum area reclaimed as a new tourist attraction. The seawall attracted 2000 visitors between April 2010 and June 2011, illustrating interest in this new landmark seawall. As a first step, MAFRA will begin construction of a 5.6 hectare recreation complex including hotels, restaurants, and shopping centers. MAFRA will select private companies to develop the 193 hectare by the end of 2013. This development plan is expected to contribute to the creation of tourist demand in connection with Saemangeum's natural environment. 

 

Date submitted: July 27, 2013 Reviewed, edited and uploaded: August 5, 2013