Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (South Korea)

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
농림축산식품부; 農林畜産食品部; Nongnim Chucksan Sikpum-bu
	; MAFRA headquarters in Sejong
Agency overview
Formed	March 23, 2013; 11 years ago
Preceding agencies	Ministry of Agriculture (1948–1973); Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (1973–1987); Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (1987–1996); Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (1987–1996); Ministry of Agriculture (1996–2008); Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (2008–2013);
Jurisdiction	Government of South Korea
Headquarters	Seojong, South Korea
Minister responsible	Song Mi-ryung;
Deputy Minister responsible	Park Beom-su;
Child agencies	Rural Development Administration; Korea Forest Service;
Website	Official English Site

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA; Korean: 농림축산식품부; Hanja: 農林畜産食品部; RR: Nongnim Chucksan Sikpum-bu) is a cabinet-level division of the government of South Korea. It is headquartered in the Sejong Government Complex in Sejong City.^[1] It was established as Ministry of Agriculture, with the founding of the First Republic of Korea in 1948.

The MAFRA is responsible for areas including crop insurance, land reclamation, agricultural statistics and the development of agricultural technology including genetically modified crops and environmentally friendly agriculture. It is also responsible for direct payments to rice farmers and for aspects of preparedness for natural disasters.

Mission

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs shall administer affairs related to agriculture, livestock, foods, farmland, and irrigation, promotion of food industry, development of farming communities, and distribution of agricultural products

History

7 July 1948: Newly organized the Ministry of Agriculture
29 March 1962: Removed the Local Society Bureau and newly organized the Rural Development Administration as an independent organization
28 February 1966: Removed the Fisheries Bureau and newly organized the Korea Fisheries Service as an independent organization
27 December 1966: Removed the Forestry Bureau and newly organized the Korea Forest Service as an independent organization
28 March 1973: Changed the name of the ministry from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
28 January 1974: Organized the Agricultural Statistics Office in each provinces, or Do's under the immediate control of the Minister
2 November 1981:
- Removed the post of the Assistant Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food
- Maintained the part of Assistant Deputy Minister of Agricultural Administration; and the Assistant Deputy Minister of Food
31 December 1986: Changed the name of the ministry from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries
8 August 1996: Changed the name of the ministry from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to the Ministry of Agriculture
29 March 2006: FTA-exclusive Free Trade Negotiation Department 2 was newly organized in the International Agriculture Bureau
9 February 2007: Return-to-the-Soil Support Department and Livestock Resources Circulation Department were newly organized
30 November 2007:
- Changed the name of institutes:
  - from National Plant Quarantine Center to National Plant Quarantine Service; and
  - from Korea Seed and Variety Center to Korea Seed and Variety Service
- Changed the name of bureaus:
  - from Investments and Loans Evaluation and Statistics Team to Policy Evaluation and Statistics Bureau
  - from Agricultural Structure Policy Bureau to Agricultural Policy Bureau
  - from Agricultural Circulation Bureau to Agricultural Circulation and Food Industry Bureau; and
  - from Livestock Bureau to Livestock Policy Bureau
29 February 2008: Changed the name of the ministry from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
12 November 2012:
- Newly formed the Agricultural Cooperative Marketing and Supply Support Team (a provisional team formed until October 31, 2015)
- Changed the Four Major Rivers and Saemangeum Development Division to the Saemangeum Development Division
23 March 2013:
- Changed the ministry name from the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs.(The Fisheries Division is changed to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Food safety Division is transferred to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety)
- The Animal, Plant, and Fisheries Quarantine and Inspection Agency is changed to the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, and the Training Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries is changed to the Food and Agriculture Officials Training Institute

Organization

Organization: one vice minister, one deputy minister, two offices, four bureaus, eight policy bureaus, forty-three divisions (teams and officers) and five institutes
Quota: 3,237 people (538 people in the head office and 2,699 people in institutes)

Minister

Policy Advisor to the Minister

Spokesperson

Public Relations Division

Vice Minister

Deputy Minister

commissioner

Audit and Inspection Officer

General Services Division

Planning & Coordination Office

Policy Planning Bureau

Planning & Statistics Division
Budget & Evaluation Division
Administrative Management Division
Regulation Reform & Legal Affairs Division
Information Division

Emergency & Security Planning Bureau

Rural Policy Bureau

Rural Policy Division
Business & Human Resource Development Division
Rural Development Division
Rural Society Division

Agricultural Policy Bureau

Agricultural Policy Division
Farmland Policy Division
Agricultural Financial Policy Division
Farm Income Stabilization Division
Agricultural Disaster Insurance Team
Agricultural Cooperative's Marketing & Supply Support Team

Food Grain Policy Bureau

Food Grain Policy Division
Food Grain Industry Division
Rural Infrastructure Division
Saemangeum Development Division

International Cooperation Bureau

General Division of International Cooperation
International Development & Cooperation Division
Agricultural Commerce Division
Quarantine Policy Division

Livestock Policy Bureau

Livestock Policy Division
Livestock Management Division
General Division of Animan Health
Animal Health Management Division

Food Industry Policy Office

National Food Cluster Team

Food Industry Policy Bureau

Food Industry Policy Division
Food Industry Promotion Division
Food Service Industry Division
Export Promotion Team

Marketing Policy Bureau

Marketing Policy Division
Horticulture Industry Division
Horticulture Business Division
Climate Change Response Division

Customer & Science Policy Bureau

Customer Policy Division
Environment-Friendly Agriculture Division
Science & Technology Policy Division
Seed & Life Industry Division

Ministers

	Name	Name (Korean)	Took office	Left office
61	Lee Dong-phil	이동필	11 March 2013	5 September 2016
62	Kim Jae-su	김재수	5 September 2016	3 July 2017
63	Kim Yung-rok	김영록	3 July 2017	15 March 2018
64	Lee Gae-ho	이개호	10 August 2018	30 August 2019
65	Kim Hyeon-soo	김현수	31 August 2019	10 May 2022
66	Chung Hwang-keun	정황근	10 May 2022	29 December 2023
67	Song Mi-ryung	송미령	29 December 2023	incumbent

References

^ "Location." (Archive) Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Retrieved on December 31, 2013. "Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 94 Dasom2-ro, Government Complex-Sejong, Sejong-si 339-012, Republic of Korea"

External links

Official English-language site

[1] "Location." (Archive) Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Retrieved on December 31, 2013. "Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 94 Dasom2-ro, Government Complex-Sejong, Sejong-si 339-012, Republic of Korea"

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