According to 'FY 2011's Public Opinion Survey on Agriculture and Rural Life' executed by Korea Rural Economic Institute(KREI) to support the excavation of research demand and policy establishment the interest and approval rating in national agriculture and rural life were shown to be high, and such different policy demands as to require any countermeasure for agricultural damage followed by the expanded agricultural product market opening were understood.

90.2% of the urban citizens responded to ‘The weight taken by agriculture in national economy is high’, whose recognition of importance increased by a small margin(1.8%p) more than 5 years ago, most of urban citizens and farmers(75.2% and 75.9% respectively) ‘If the agriculture is not good the national economy will not be good’, while 92.9% of professionals showed their opinions like ‘The more investment shall be made on agriculture and rural life’, whose high approval rating on agriculture and rural life is being maintained.

Our future food supply situation was forecast unstable by most (urban citizens 71.0%, farmers 82.5%, professionals 92.9%), the agriculture was forecast a declining industry by 57.8% of urban citizens and 42.2% of farmers, while 59.5% of professionals viewed it a growth industry, whose difference in recognition was shown.

As a policy with the most fruitful policy among this year's promoted policies the farmers ponted out the ‘strengthened countermeasure for livestock disease’(55.6%), while the professionals the ‘promoted food industry and expanded export’(50.0%). The governmental measures for agricultural opening was numerously viewed to be insufficient by the urban citizens(44.4%), farmers(59.7%), and professionals(45.2%).

As the ratio of urban citizens with the opinion ‘to purchase our agricultural products even though they are expensive when the agricultural market opening is expanded’ was surveyed to drop to 39.1% less than the previous year by 6.0% the loyalty to our agricultural product purchase was understood to drop.

As the agricultural policy for the government to preferentially to push ahead in 2012 such an agricultural opening measure as FTA was counted, and then the agricultural product price stabilization policy as the next one. The urban citizens have recently counted the 'safe food supply' as the most interesting policy consecutively for three years.

The intent to return to farming and to their home village by urban citizens was 63.7%, which increased more than the previous year by 16.0%p, 58.7% of whom responded to the answer 'no idea of' the policy to return to farming and to their home village, whose public relations was shown to be required. The farmers and professionals to approve the support to return to farming were 57.3% and 78.6% respectively positive.

The answers to be satisfied with residential environment of current residential area were 39.5% for farmers, which was surveyed to be a little lower than 43.0% for urban citizens, whose gap greatly decreased, for the plan for their later years 14.1% of farmers responded to ‘no measure’ which was shown to require some interest.

Researchers: Dong-Weon Kim and Hye-Jin Park
E-mail address: dongweon@krei.re.kr, frog78@krei.re.kr