Localization trends in Korea and trade liberalization in the world are the important challenges to agricultural extension services in Korea, and strategic directions in terms of system, organization, programs and conciousness would be necessary for adapting to the new circunstances. Some of the measures to improve and activate agricultural extension services in Korea should include the following: 1) Modification of extension personnel appointment regulations to secure specialized extension agents by the provincial administrators and county directors at the provincial and county level rural extension services. 2) Flexible organization and operation of county level rural guidance offices to meet the specific needs of local areas. 3) Strenghening the central government's financial support for effective local extension services in terms of facility and manpower. 4) Expansion of agricultural extension programs for women and urban people and quality inservice training for extension personnel.

The objectives of this study were to identify the roles of field agricultural extension work and its future development directions in the localization process. Literature reviews and participatory research methods were applied to attain the study objectives. Among the identified developmental roles of the field extension work in the localization process were : (1) to build up the agricultural research capability within the locality ; (2) to intensify the field information technology and ; (3) to strengthen the technology management capability of the extension educators.

Korean agriculture now faces a historic challenge due to globalization and decentralization. Agricultural cooperatives should be reborn to lead regional agriculture by reorganizing the regional agri-business and strengthening the competitive power of regional agriculture. It also needs to establish an integrated agricultural development plan and to expand the vision for future agriculture. To pursue these objectives, Agricultural Cooperatives should work together with the regional government and develop an enterprise with a competitive advantage in the region.

The objectives of this study were 1) to investigate the important items affecting the farmers' education system, 2) to estimate their influences on the farmers' education and 3) to present the development directions of farmers education under the changing circumstances of localization. The major or results and implications were as follows. 1. The important items of farmers education were authority in organizing the agricultural extension agency, personnel management, finance, and inspection and audit. 2. The development directions of farmers education were such views as differenti-ation of educational functions of various levels extension organizations, extensionists' competence, developing programs corresponding with farmers needs, participation of farmers, and expanding the educational opportunity for urban-ites and the old generation, etc.

The objective of this study is to provide direction for agricultural extension services in an age of localization. Agricultural extension services has carried out most of its activities by central direction and control. The central planning and management resulted in disappointment, inflexibility, and lack of responsiveness of the central bureaucracy. Facing localization in recent years, the extension system has not been satisfactorily developed to meet local demands. Korea has to choose to decentralize its extension services. The decentralization of extension services involves the transfer of planning, decision making, and management from the central government to the local level.

Agricultural extension services in Korea has experienced various system changes and accomplishments. The biggest achievement of extension was rice self-suffiency in the 1970s and abundant vegetable and animal production in the 1980s. The emerging challenges of international competition and localization are contributing to significant changes such as the decentralization of activities and shared responsibilities between the central government and local governments. Change, while it threatens the status quo, is a challenge and an opportunity to review and revamp ensconced and often rigid structures. In this sense, it is time to start a new era in agricultural extension. The development of agricultural extension requires keen appraisals and cogent analysis based on the realities of each specific regional situation. In order to develop agricultural extension services, the various aspects, the synthetic identification of its environments, the clarification of the client, the program development, and the effective mechanisms between research and extension must be considered. Especially, agricultural extension systems should be flexible and adjust to changing environments and the farmers' needs.

Poitical demand for decentralization trends in Korea has led the government to plan to localize its agricultural extension system by changing the status of 6,696 extension personnel stationed at the provincial and county level from central government status to local government status as of January 1997. However, serious drawbacks of lowered morale of extension personnel and the financial burden of local governments has not yet been debated extensively for effective personnel management. Some of the findings that emerged from both the analytical and empirical research show the dangers of decentralization such as an increase in disparities, jeopardizing stability, and undermining efficiency. These problems should be considered along with the culture, tradition, and Koreans' attitude towards central and local government. The dangers of decentralization of agricultural extension services in Korea may cause serious problems in allocative efficiency because of a mismatch between available resources and promised expenditures, and in production efficiency because of unproven cost-effective provisions of local governments. It is accepted that the central government can invest more in technology, research, development, promotion and innovation in the agricultural sector. However, changing the status of extension personnel from central government to local government status may lead the best people to leave, lower morale, shake the sense of public service, break networks, and sacrifice investment in research, development and extension. In deciding the future directions for personnel management of agricultural extension services in Korea, maintaining or reinforcing the existing national status of extension personnel should be considered along with a reflection of the basic characteristics of agricultural extension services, linkages of research and extension, the financial burden of local government, specialization of extension personnel, unnecessary duplication of investment among local governments, possible national supports to agricultural research and development, and extension under the WTO systems.

One of the major functions of rural extension services is to transfer agricultural technologies and information, and advanced new agricultural techniques developed by research institutes, which are meaningful when they are transferred to farmers for practicl application. Information materials can be transferred in the form of newspapers, radio and television broadcasting, printed materials, audio-visual aids, and public communication networks. Agricultural information systems in the era of localization should be oriented toward county extension services, and the following points should be emphasized for more effective dissemination of agricultural technologies : 1) Central organization of the Rural Development Administration should put more emphasis on the production and dissemination of agricultural information to support activities of extension agents at the county level. 2) An Agricultural information center should be established for more effective collection, analysis, processing, production and dissemination of various agri-related information. 3) An advanced and unified network system should be adopted for more accuate and rapid information flow throughout the country, and reinforcement of manpower and facility at the county level should be emphasized for more effective dissemination of agricultural information.

The objectives of this study were to 1) classify the cooperative farmers' organizations in Korea according to the development level and institutional aspects through the exploration of its' conceptual and institutional basis, 2) analyze the farmers' needs for organization, 3) identify the problems and situation of organizations, and 4) formulate an effective management model for each cooperative farmers' organization. The study was carried out through a review of literature and using available statistical data collected from various sources and empirical survey. Major findings of the study were: 1) the cooperative farmers' organizations could be classified into four types : crop units, farming cooperative corporation, trust farming companies and joint-stock agri-business. 2) a lot of members of the organization feel that the information is insufficient, the opportunity to suggest their own ideas is hardly given, and the members are not satisfied with the cooperation among the members, 3) the members who have higher level of schooling education showed a higher participation level in the organization, 4) most of members did not recognize the organization they participated in, 5) participation of the organization's members and concerned institutions is an important factor to promote problem solving and better communication within the organization, 6) any type of continuing education for the members is needed to facilitate the transfer of a new agricultural and organizational technology, 7) research and development(R & D) is one of the most important factors of the development of organizations, 8) most organizations are deficient in professional management skills(financial, personal, accounts, etc.), 9) the trust farming companies have difficulties in managing the firm on account of the characteristics of agriculture(especially seasonal), the dispersed trust lands, and the need for more alternative work in the winter season, and 10) in the case of agri-businesses, their organizations are more specialized in marketing and have more structured systems of management. Based on the results of the study the following recommendations were made for further improvement and development of agricultural cooperative organizations : (1) More governmental support should be given to education for improvement of the organizational structure. And more deliberate and differentiated governmental support should be provided for the organizations to be viably managed. (2) For more efficient communication between the members and the organization, more opportunities for discussion are needed. (3) The more research should be committed to this kind of work in order to get more analytic data and strategic plans of cooperative organizations.