Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Holds K-Food+ Export Expansion Promotion Headquarters Meeting

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Minister Song Mei-ryung, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs) held the first meeting of the “K-Food ⁺ Export Expansion Promotion Headquarters” for 2025 at the aT Center in Seoul on Tuesday, January 21, with major export companies and related organizations.

  * K-Food Plus ^: Agricultural products + forward and backward industries (smart farms, agricultural equipment, veterinary medicines, etc.)

  In 2024, K-Food ⁺ export performance reached $13.03 billion (agricultural and food products 99.8, forward and backward industries 30.5), the highest performance ever. 14 items including ramen, processed rice products, kimchi, yuzu, grapes, and pesticides achieved the highest ever, and agricultural and food products and smart farms were also exported to and received orders from the largest number of countries ever.

  This meeting was organized to achieve the best performance ever in 2025, following 2024, and discussed the government’s export support measures for 2025, major export companies’ outlook and implementation plans for 2025, etc. In addition, this event was held as part of the relay field meeting of the “2025 Work Plan Created with Policy Customers” that will be implemented this year, to explain in detail the K-Food ⁺ export sector work plan to policy customers and to reflect opinions from the field in the policy.

  This year, the Ministry of Agriculture,  Food and Rural Affairs  plans to actively support export companies  by ^▲ providing premiumization, product development, and large-scale marketing support centered on the top 10 agricultural and food product export strategy items,  ^{▲ developing new markets by linking with KOTRA’s overseas trade offices, ▲} promoting online and offline using the Korean Wave,  ^{▲ responding to non-tariff barriers, ▲} developing export-specific technologies, and  ^▲ creating export opportunities through government-to-government cooperation.

Export companies attending the meeting stated, “Although there are difficulties in exporting due to the strengthening of non-tariff barriers in each country, we will actively promote exports by actively utilizing the Korean Wave, including Korean culture and food, and launching new products targeting the tastes of local consumers.”

  Meanwhile, following the meeting, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, together with the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, Korea Creative Content Agency, Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency, Korea Food Research Institute, and FTA Comprehensive Support Center, held an information session on the 2025 Agricultural and Food Export Support Project. Around 300 export company officials attended the event, showing great interest in obtaining information on government support projects necessary for each company to expand exports.

  Minister Song Mei-ling, who chaired the meeting, encouraged the participants by saying, “K-Food Plus ^exports are an important policy that contributes not only to the national economy, but also to enhancing the national brand, increasing agricultural income, and linking the agricultural and food industries. Let’s make every effort to expand exports this year by joining forces with export companies, related organizations, and the government as ‘one team.’”

Editor. Hong Se-yeong