Chambers of commerce such as the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea and the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea have long served as powerful advocacy bodies for business and industry — both at home and abroad. For farmers and fishers, no equivalent institution existed.
A handful of regions, including Jeongseon-gun in Gangwon Province, had filled that gap by running agricultural chambers modeled loosely on the commerce chamber structure, working to improve the business environment for farmers, monitor policy and promote community prosperity.
After two centuries in which farming and fishing were valued less than commerce and manufacturing, the agricultural and fisheries chamber has now been recognized as a statutory body. The National Assembly — the country's representative legislature — acknowledged that food, like semiconductors, is a strategic asset.
Farmers and fishers across the country, including in Jeongseon-gun, welcomed the National Assembly's passage of the Agricultural and Fisheries Chamber Act.
Jeongseon-gun moved immediately to convert its agricultural chamber — which had been operating as a pilot project across 24 areas — into a statutory body, reorganizing its structure, objectives and operational details.
The Jeongseon-gun Agricultural Chamber said it plans to pursue three steps in sequence: revising its articles of incorporation to convert to a special corporation, joining discussions on establishing a Gangwon Province-wide agricultural and fisheries chamber, and securing stable operating funds through a Jeongseon-gun municipal ordinance.
"In line with the law's implementation, we will further strengthen our role as an advocacy body for local farmers," Jeon Yong-pyo, chairman of the Jeongseon-gun Agricultural Chamber, said Tuesday. "We will do our utmost to establish ourselves as a representative body that farmers can trust."
Until now, agricultural and fisheries chambers had operated without a legal basis in 24 regions nationwide, functioning as voluntary associations under civil law. The Jeongseon-gun Agricultural Chamber was founded independently around 2017 and has since served as a consultative channel for discussing local agricultural policy issues alongside Jeongseon-gun, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and the county council.
The Agricultural and Fisheries Chamber Act provides the legal basis for establishing chambers — with farmers or fishers as members — at both the municipal and provincial level. Its key provisions include guaranteeing the autonomy of the chambers, explicitly requiring political neutrality to prevent them from becoming government-aligned bodies, and establishing grounds for local governments to provide operating funds.
"As an informal association, it was genuinely difficult to claim full legitimacy and representativeness as an advocacy body for local farmers," Hong Gi-yeong, secretary-general of the Jeongseon-gun Agricultural Chamber, said. "We expect this legislation to allow our consultative channels with Jeongseon-gun, the agricultural cooperative and other related agencies to operate in a more stable and effective way."
The Jeongseon-gun Agricultural Chamber holds an annual agricultural policy conference. Last October, it convened the 2026 Agricultural Policy Conference at the Bukpyeong-myeon Community Welfare Center, where about 80 people gathered to discuss local agricultural policy issues. Attendees included Jeongseon County Mayor Choi Seung-jun, county council Speaker Jeon Yeong-gi, National Agricultural Cooperative Federation branch chief Kim Bo-seong, officials from the agricultural policy, retail livestock and agricultural technology center divisions, and chamber committee heads and directors.
The meeting focused on the hardships facing farmers amid global instability and abnormal weather patterns. Participants reviewed a range of policy measures, including half-price support for agricultural materials, small-packaging subsidies, cold-storage facility installation, support for foreign seasonal workers, promotion of smart farming, support for those returning to rural areas, livestock farm support, animal disease prevention and revitalization of agricultural product distribution.
Ahead of the June 3 local elections, the chamber also delivered a policy proposal document — titled "Policy Pledge Proposals for Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development" — to candidates running for office. The document called for expanding half-price agricultural input support and raising its ceiling, introducing a minimum price guarantee and public procurement system for farm produce, developing and branding strategic crops such as apples and plums, and expanding welfare and health screening support for elderly farmers.
Fishers along the East Sea coast, including in Sokcho, have also been actively engaging with Gangwon Provincial Assembly members as equals to discuss pressing issues and protect their livelihoods. They, too, have welcomed the fisheries chamber's recognition as a statutory body.
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