Farm minister Koizumi visits rice field in South Korea
During the inspection in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Koizumi received explanations from a rice farmer on market price trends and measures to combat high temperatures and pests.
Speaking to reporters, Koizumi said rice prices in Japan doubling in a year, coupled with the rapid increase in rice imports from overseas, including from South Korea, "has led to anxiety among Japanese farmers."
The minister emphasized that he would work to stabilize the Japanese rice market through the release of government-stockpiled rice and the policy shift toward increasing rice production in Japan.
Exports of South Korean rice to Japan have increased sharply, reaching a record 416 tons in January to June this year, which is 26 times the highest full-year total logged in 2012, according to Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. This is because South Korean rice, even with tariffs, can now be sold at around the same prices as Japanese rice.
Koizumi is on a three-day visit to South Korea through Monday to attend a food security ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Incheon, near Seoul.
On the sidelines of the APEC meeting, Koizumi held talks with senior U.S. government officials, in which the two sides agreed to proceed with preparations for U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins' visit to Japan and Koizumi's visit to the United States.
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