[Interview] Min Kyung-cheon, President of the National Hanwoo Association: Opposes Market Opening Without Compensation Measures… Management Stabilization Must Be Included in the Hanwoo Act

According to Yangpyeong Livestock Cooperative, a calf priced as high as 6.899 million won per head appeared at the male calf auction held on the 16th. The average successful bid price that day was 5.393 million won, up 106,000 won from the auction on the 2nd, two weeks earlier. According to figures compiled by the NongHyup Livestock Information Center as well, the average price of 6- to 7-month-old male calves as of August was 5.16 million won, up 19.2% from 4.328 million won in the same period of 2025. Compared with the Hanwoo wholesale market auction price for the same month (excluding defective cattle and cattle recommended for culling), which was 24,240 won per kg, up 18.4% from 20,479 won in the same month of the previous year, the increase rate in calf prices exceeds the increase rate in wholesale prices.

Min Kyung-cheon, president of the National Hanwoo Association (chairman of the Hanwoo Checkoff Management Committee), said in an interview with the Korea Agricultural Technology Newspaper on the 16th, “If feed costs and rearing costs are added to the purchase cost, the production cost of one beef cattle animal exceeds 10 million won.” When asked whether farms can fully recover that money, the field cannot readily answer. On top of this, discussions on resuming accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and efforts to resume negotiations for a Korea-Mercosur (Southern Common Market) trade agreement are overlapping, raising pressure for further opening of the beef market once again.

President Min Kyung-cheon made clear the principle for responding to opening, saying, “If there are no support measures for farms and no reasonable compensation measures, we absolutely cannot accept it.” The vessel for the solution he refers to is the Act on the Transition and Support of the Hanwoo Industry in Response to Carbon Neutrality (Hanwoo Act), which took effect on July 23, 2026. The enforcement decree and enforcement rules took effect on August 21. The point is that creating the law is not the end; management stabilization mechanisms that can absorb the shock of market opening must be filled into it.

 

Not Unconditionally Opposed to Opening… Demands a Mechanism to Regulate Imports According to Prices

President Min said, “Many Hanwoo farms engage in mixed farming, so Mercosur is greatly connected not only to livestock but also to field cropping,” adding, “The reason we oppose the CPTPP is the same.” However, he drew a line, saying the argument is not to block opening itself. He pointed out, “The government should not lie, and if it cannot avoid opening the market, shouldn’t it support farms?” and, “It must not tell farms to sacrifice blindly when the damage to farms is plainly visible.”

He viewed farmers’ distrust as stemming from past experience. President Min said, “The government’s promises that it would compensate when signing FTAs have not been kept,” and, “Now farmers do not believe what the government says. It is exactly like the story of the wolf in the fairy tale.” He then emphasized, “Policy authorities must not lie and must keep their promises.”

He also presented a concrete alternative. He said, “They should give producers a certain degree of import permit authority and create a mechanism that blocks imports when domestic prices fall too much and opens them when prices rise,” adding, “Does it make sense to open unconditionally so only companies make money? If even such safeguards are put in place, would we only oppose unconditionally?” Regarding the profits of companies that imported duty-free, he also pointed out, “If they made money, they should return it to the farms.”

 

Hanwoo Act Enacted 11 Years After Being Proposed… Must Include Beef Cattle Management Stabilization Program

The Hanwoo Act was enacted in July 2025, 11 years after the “Hanwoo Industry Development Bill” was first proposed in August 2014, during the tenure of the late former president Lee Kang-woo. President Min recalled that the final stretch was the most difficult. 

He recalled, “When a bill was proposed in the National Assembly, it would go under the desk and then be proposed again two to three years later,” and, “Ping-pong between the ruling and opposition parties continued, making it not easy to draw out agreement from both sides.”

President Min said he devoted effort to having the bill processed through agreement between the ruling and opposition parties. He added, “If the bill had not been processed through agreement by both sides, the Hanwoo Act could have disappeared, and I would have had to take responsibility for that disgrace,” and, “By making a strong appeal to the National Assembly, we revived a law that could have been buried under the desk again.”

The resolution adopted by the National Hanwoo Association at its 27th anniversary ceremony held on September 15 at the ICC Hotel in Daejeon is in the same context. The association called for a reconsideration of additional beef market opening, management stabilization measures and budget securing in line with the legislative intent of the Hanwoo Act, and other steps.

As concrete plans, President Min said, “For farms, projects such as a beef cattle management stabilization program, feed stabilization, and culling of low-performing cattle should be included in the detailed measures.” He also holds the position that a plan to reform the calf production stabilization program to fit reality should be included in the details of the Hanwoo Act.

However, he acknowledged that there are limits to the power of producer organizations alone. He said, “The association is an organization that makes recommendations, but if the place receiving them does not accept them, they end as recommendations,” and, “Policy will change only if government policymakers try to change even a little.”

 

Farms Should Raise Cattle, Companies Should Handle Distribution… “There Is Commercial Ethics”

Regarding the clause in the Hanwoo Act restricting companies’ entry into livestock farming, he presented a principled argument. President Min said, “Hanwoo should be raised by farms, and companies should not compete with farms,” adding, “Companies should make profits by distributing and selling what farms produce; the idea of making money by also engaging in rearing from the start is wrong. No matter how much they want to raise cattle, there is commercial ethics.”

He emphasized, “A structure in which companies occupy every area of the industry, including rearing, distribution, imports, and exports, and farms are pushed out is not sustainable agriculture,” adding, “This is not to deny the role of companies. However, even agriculture must not be reorganized solely according to the logic of capital. Agriculture is an industry that cannot be evaluated simply by market efficiency alone. As it has social roles in protecting food security and maintaining local communities, a policy balance that protects the industrial foundation so producing farms can continue to fulfill their role is absolutely necessary.”

For contract-rearing farms, he made a more direct request. President Min said, “If they do not want to become slaves of companies, farms themselves must awaken, and only then can farmers become sovereign actors,” and urged that the hopes of the second generation who have entered Hanwoo farming not be broken.

 Production Cost per Head Exceeds 10 Million Won… “One Mountain After Another”

Apart from responding to external headwinds, he also emphasized farms’ self-help efforts. President Min said, “Even though grain prices have risen, farms are trying to restock, so calf prices have soared and the burden on farms has grown,” adding, “Costs exceed 10 million won, but do farms receive 10 million won? It is one mountain after another.” He continued, “With a cost of 10 million won at stake, farms themselves are in a situation where they must think about the profit structure,” and, “If farms do not reduce costs on their own, the industry itself will become difficult.”

Having raised cattle since 1982, he identified the long rearing period as a structural weakness. President Min explained, “For other livestock species, funds turn over in as short as 30 days, or at most four months, but for Hanwoo it is at least two years,” and, “The fact that farmers do not know what situation may arise during that period is the greatest burden for them.”

 

Need to Discuss Raising Hanwoo Checkoff Contributions… Expansion of Corporate Participation Should Also Be Considered

As he also serves as chairman of the Hanwoo Checkoff Management Committee, he said he would place producers at the center of checkoff fund operations. President Min said, “When farms produce Hanwoo, there is a price difference from imported meat, and the checkoff fund was created to make up that difference and develop and distribute the Hanwoo market,” adding, “The fact that farms pay 20,000 won per head means they want it used that way. We will use the checkoff fund according to its purpose.”

As a representative example, he cited support for the price difference in raw meat. According to the Hanwoo Checkoff Management Committee, the executed amount for the project was 4.6 billion won in 2023, 1.8 billion won in 2024, and 800 million won in 2025, and the 2026 budget is 400 million won. The committee explained that the project scale has decreased each year due to the rise in Hanwoo wholesale prices, the participating companies’ poor performance in purchase volumes compared with their plans, and difficulties in securing local government funds. However, President Min assessed the project’s effects as positive.

He explained, “We provided support of 2,000 to 4,000 won per kg so that companies using imported meat would use Hanwoo,” adding, “It means that much of the imported meat market was replaced with Hanwoo.” He continued, “It is not giving money blindly but giving it on the condition that they do not use imported meat,” and, “Through differential support, companies began using Hanwoo.”

Discussions are also under way on the need to raise the contribution, which is currently 20,000 won per head. President Min said, “We are holding briefing sessions for farms,” and stated, “If we look to the distant future of the Hanwoo industry, farms should raise it to 30,000 won, and companies should also participate.” He continued, “Companies benefiting thanks to Hanwoo, such as feed companies, animal pharmaceutical companies, and distributors, should pay a checkoff fund of 10,000 won per head or participate in the form of a development fund to create a joint fund that can be used in difficult times.”

 Concurrent Leadership of Association and Checkoff Fund Shortens Project Periods… Chuseok Market Sells 2.8 Billion Won

Regarding his concurrent positions as association president and chairman of the checkoff fund management committee, he cited the speed of project implementation as the biggest advantage. President Min said, “Because I work in two places, it is difficult in terms of time and physical effort, but since the two organizations move the same way under one person’s instructions, project periods are shortened and budgets are also saved.”

As achievements, he cited the recovery of Hanwoo prices and results in promoting consumption. The Hanwoo Checkoff Management Committee said that at the “Chuseok Online Hanwoo Market” held for four days from September 7 to 10, it offered Grade 1 Hanwoo sirloin at 7,370 won per 100g, bulgogi and soup meat at 3,250 won, along with grilling cuts, butcher’s cuts, byproducts, and processed products, selling 2.8 billion won worth. According to Livestock Products Marketing Information from the Korea Institute for Animal Products Quality Evaluation, wholesale market prices in September (as of the 1st to 15th) were 22.4% higher than the average price in September last year.

President Min explained, “I promised to recover Hanwoo prices during my term, and prices improved as the association, the checkoff fund, and NongHyup each divided their roles and promoted consumption,” adding, “If the three hold consumption promotion events around the same time, the effect falls. If they are spaced out and timed to when consumers eat, the effect is great.” He continued, “Following the checkoff fund event, the association and NongHyup will hold events one after another,” and expressed expectation that, “With timing adjusted, consumption during the Chuseok peak season will increase.”

 

From Vaccines to Sanitary Inspections and Residue Management… Please Recognize the Value of Hanwoo

He asked consumers to recognize the value that Hanwoo possesses as well. President Min said, “Hanwoo is a unique genetic resource that has been improved and preserved over a long period to suit our country’s environment,” and added, “It is raised in hygienically managed barns, with careful management even of the quality of feed and roughage.”

He continued, “Vaccines are administered at the proper time, and during the slaughter process as well, safety is confirmed through sanitary inspections, residue tests, and other checks before it is delivered to consumers,” explaining, “From production to slaughter and distribution, it goes through a thorough management system.” He added, “As farms raise it with care over a long period and it passes through multiple stages of management before reaching the table, I hope consumers will recognize the value that Hanwoo holds.”

Regarding his future plans ahead of the expiration of his term in March 2027, he was cautious in his remarks. President Min said, “I will have to listen to the opinions of those around me who have helped and make a decision,” adding, “I have worked thinking that next March is my last. If I work thinking I will run again next time, I may become conscious of votes and be unable to point things out.” He added, “If there is a better leader, it is right for that leader to do it.”