This Year's Direct Payment Program to Total 2.3788 Trillion Won, Disbursements Begin Mid-Month
This year's direct payments for public goods, totaling 2.3788 trillion won, will be paid out sequentially starting mid-month to 1.296 million recipients, including farming households and farmers. The direct payment program for public goods is a government subsidy distributed according to paddy or field acreage and farming scale to support farmers' incomes.
The number of recipients increased from last year following the relaxation of payment restrictions based on off-farm income for the first time in 17 years. This year's recipients total 1.296 million, up 11,000 from 1.285 million last year. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs attributes this to raising the off-farm comprehensive income threshold for payment restrictions from 37 million won to 47 million won for the first time in 17 years. The adjustment follows the revised 'Act on the Operation of Direct Payment Programs to Enhance the Public Functions of Agriculture and Rural Communities,' amended on May 12. The revised criteria take effect on the 13th and will be applied to applicants registering for this year's area-based direct payments and onward.
However, the total payout amount decreased slightly as the eligible payment area shrank due to farmland conversion and eligibility verification. The payment area stands at 1.032 million hectares, down 13,000 hectares from 1.045 million hectares last year. As a result of farmland conversion and eligibility verification, the total payout also decreased by 5.5 billion won from 2.3843 trillion won last year.
The ministry received 1.332 million applications between March and May this year, then verified eligibility by cross-checking administrative data such as resident registration, farm business registration, farmland and land registers, and off-farm income. Approximately 36,000 applications were excluded from payment through this process. Compliance checks were also conducted on 16 requirements, including maintaining farmland shape and function, safe pesticide use, and completion of public function enhancement training.
Recipients penalized for violations totaled 17,255, with reduced payments amounting to approximately 3.2 billion won. The number of penalized cases increased from 11,092 last year, but the reduction amount remained at a similar level. The ministry explained that while violations increased as the inspection sample size grew, the amount detected per case decreased. The ministry will transfer payment funds to local governments by the 13th, and local governments will verify recipients' account information and other details before disbursing payments sequentially from mid-month through late December.
Kang Dong-yoon, director general for rural income and energy policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "This year, through measures such as making the off-farm income threshold more realistic, we enabled more farmers to benefit from the direct payment program," adding, "We will continue to actively reflect the voices of farming communities to improve the system and contribute to stabilizing farmers' incomes."
