Localization of the Rural Development Policy

농촌지역 개발정책의 지방화 방향

Korean agriculture and rural sector has undergone a wide range of reform after the Uruguay Round. Major policy measure is to put finances of huge budget from tax payers since 1994 in preparation of the Rural Development Strategy and Reform Program. Both in the total amount and individual size of the subsidy and loan for eligible farmers and farmers group are large and drastically enormous than any other programs in the past. The strategy adopted was a bottom-up approach, Particularly in selecting the project with local autonomy. However, it has been still criticized as the form of centralized control of budget and decsion. In terms of the program effectiveness too, it is doubtful to judge that Korean agriculture is in a road to getting the international competetiveness as targeted. Since the local autonomy was started in 1995, the political structure has been settling in a way to be more locally institutionalized. Rural development policy, as the key point of economic and industrial dimension of local autonomy, should be initiated and practiced in real term by the local government. This paper, in this concern, in reviewing the past rural development prolicy and programs, discussed the necessary issues relevant to legal bases of land uses in Korea. Further, the direction of increasing local automous power of local government was discussed in the senses of budgetary control and decision. The power and budget should be allocated more to the rural development plans of local government in order to fulfilize integrated rural spatial development in this new era of globalization.