Korea Rural Community Corporation

A public institution under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs responsible for agricultural infrastructure management, the Farmland Bank, and rural development

Korea Rural Community Corporation

Overview

The Korea Rural Community Corporation (한국농어촌공사, KRC) is a representative public institution in South Korea's agriculture and rural sectors, responsible for the construction and maintenance of agricultural production infrastructure such as reservoirs, pumping stations, and irrigation and drainage canals; the Farmland Bank project; improvement of the residential environment in agricultural and fishing villages; and management of reclaimed land. It was established under the Korea Rural Community Corporation and Farmland Management Fund Act and launched under its current name on January 1, 2000, with the Rural Community Development Corporation as its predecessor. Its headquarters is in Naju, Jeollanam-do (Bitgaram Innovation City), and it is classified as a delegated-execution quasi-governmental institution under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Main Content

Background of Establishment and History

It began as the Agricultural Development Corporation in 1970 and expanded irrigation and drainage facilities nationwide in support of food production increase policies in the 1970s. In 1987, it was reorganized as the Rural Community Development Corporation and carried out projects to increase agricultural and fishing village incomes and improve living environments simultaneously; in 2000, as it newly launched as the Korea Rural Community Corporation, it was given the functions of operating the Farmland Management Fund and the Farmland Bank. In November 2014, in accordance with the national balanced development policy, it relocated its headquarters to Naju Innovation City.

Major Projects

1) Creation and maintenance of agricultural production infrastructure: It manages reservoirs, pumping and drainage stations, irrigation and drainage canals, and tide barriers distributed nationwide and supplies agricultural water. The number of reservoirs under management is known to be in the thousands, and repair and safety inspections of aging facilities are also core tasks.

2) Farmland Bank project: Through the Farmland Bank introduced in 2005, it purchases and stockpiles farmland and leases it to young farmers and successor farmers, and provides farmland sale and lease brokerage, farmland pension, and management rehabilitation support. It serves as an institutional bridge connecting the retirement of elderly farmers and the settlement of young farmers.

3) Improvement of agricultural and fishing village residential environments: It improves settlement conditions through comprehensive rural village development, living environment improvement, support for returning to farming and rural areas, and creation of agricultural and fishing village tourism and resort complexes.

4) Water management and disaster response: Tasks responding to climate disasters, such as securing water supply in response to droughts and floods, drainage improvement, and diagnosis of reservoir collapse risks, are expanding.

5) Reclamation projects and reclaimed land management: It carries out large-scale reclamation projects such as Saemangeum and Hwaong and leases and manages the created reclaimed land.

6) Overseas cooperation: It cooperates with developing countries through agricultural ODA and overseas agricultural development projects.

Organization and Finances

It has a nationwide organization leading from headquarters to regional headquarters and branches, and its employees are known to number around 5,000. Its assets reach the 30 trillion won range. Revenue consists of farmland rent, agricultural water use fees, reclaimed land rent, and government entrusted project funds, and agricultural water use fees tend to be kept low to ensure publicness.

Social Role and Challenges

While carrying out public goals of food security and rural maintenance, it also faces the task of responding to demands for public institution management innovation, such as safety of aging irrigation facilities, controversies over lax management, and appropriateness of wages and staffing.

Latest Trends

In 2024–2025, as heavy rains and droughts repeated due to abnormal climate, safety management of aging reservoirs and drainage improvement projects emerged as top priorities. The establishment of smart water management systems is accelerating, including ICT/IoT-based automatic water supply and remote monitoring, and facility diagnosis using drones and AI. The Farmland Bank is trending toward an expanding role centered on support for young and successor farmers and expansion of farmland pension enrollment, and farmland scale-up and securing lease stability are becoming policy issues. Rural spatial restructuring, expansion of living SOC, and projects utilizing vacant houses and idle facilities are also expanding in response to population decline and aging. In connection with carbon neutrality policy, it is promoting renewable energy projects such as floating solar power on reservoirs and rural solar power, and a smart agriculture complex is under construction in the Saemangeum reclaimed land. In addition, under the keynote of public institution innovation, functional adjustment, performance-oriented management, and strengthening of safety management responsibility are being demanded.