At 37th Session of FAO APRC, Minister Song Expressed ROK’s 

Commitment to Stronger Cooperation with International Community 

to Overcome Global Food Security Challenges

Minister Song introduced Korea’s main agriculture policies to overcome global food security challenges: promotion of smart farming, 

nurturing young farmers, bolstering food security through expansion of food production infrastructure, and transferring agricultural 

know-how to overseas countries through K-Rice Belt projects.

Sejong, 8 March 2024 — From 19 February to 22 February, Minister SONG Miryung of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs attended, 

remotely via a virtual platform, the 37th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific. 

The regional conference, held in Colombo in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, was organized as a hybrid event involving 

both in-person and virtual attendance. Delegates from 46 member states across the Asia-Pacific region and officials of international 

organizations attended the conference.  

At the conference, member states emphasized the need to transition to sustainable and resilient agri-food systems, backed by science- 

and evidence-based policy, smooth trade flows, research and development, innovation, investment, etc., to respond to resource shortages 

in the region, climate change, and increases in the region’s population, as well as to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)¹⁾.

     1) Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of universal goals of the United Nations and the international community set for the years 

         from 2016 to 2030 and comprised of a total of 17 overarching goals and their specific targets. The 17 goals include ending poverty, achieving 

         food security and improved nutrition, promoting sustainable agriculture, achieving gender equality, sustainably managing forests, etc. 

Director-General QU Dongyu of the UN FAO said in his opening statement that, amid an accelerating transition to digital economy and society, 

networks assume particular importance, and the FAO has a comparative advantage in that it is the network and platform for achieving food security.

In turn, Minister Song introduced, in her keynote speech, the Republic of Korea’s main agriculture policies to overcome global food security 

challenges, including promotion of smart farming, nurturing young farmers, bolstering food security through expansion of food production 

infrastructure, and transferring agricultural know-how to overseas countries through K-Rice Belt projects. Minister song also emphasized that 

Korea will further strengthen cooperation with the international community.

Director-General JEONG Hye-ryun of the International Cooperation Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said: “The conference, 

the first regional conference held since the COVID-19 pandemic, was an opportunity to discuss how to build resilience in agri-food systems. With a little 

more than 5 years left before the target year set for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, we will continue our efforts to strengthen cooperation 

with the international community for food security and increase Korea’s contribution to the world.”