President Lee Jae Myung stepped into the rice paddies of rural Daegu on Friday, driving a rice transplanter and later sharing Korean rice wine, or makgeolli, with farmers in an outreach to rural communities.
Wearing muddy boots, a straw hat and a towel draped around his neck under the warm spring sun, Lee loaded seedling trays onto the rice transplanter in Sobo Myeon, Gunwi County, before personally planting young rice seedlings in the flooded paddies.
After finishing the work and noticing that some of the newly planted rice seedlings were unevenly aligned, Lee remarked with a laugh, “I think I focused too much on what was right in front of me while operating it, when I should have been looking farther ahead.”
To climb down from the rice planter and return from the paddies, Lee had to cross a wide gap between the machine and the narrow farm path. As Lee jumped across, mud splashed onto his face, drawing laughter from nearby farmers and aides.
Brushing the dirt away with a grin, Lee joked, “Now I actually look like I’ve been working.”
The rice transplanter Lee used was equipped with a semi-autonomous driving system for planting rice seedlings.
Watching the machine continue planting on its own, Lee remarked with a laugh, “It’s doing a much better job than I did.”
Lee also watched a drone-based pesticide spraying demonstration, with agricultural drones sweeping low over the fields in coordinated patterns.
The agricultural drones used for pesticide and fertilizer spraying are designed to follow preprogrammed routes autonomously and distribute materials precisely across fields.
The semi-autonomous rice transplanter and drone spraying demonstration underscored the Korean government’s push for smart farming and agricultural modernization amid deepening labor shortages and an aging rural population.
After the fieldwork, Lee sat down with farmers and residents for a “saecham” gathering — a traditional break during farm work in which workers share food and refreshments.
Residents served locally prepared dishes, including banquet noodles made with Korean wheat, tofu kimchi made in the village with Korean soybeans, Gunwi cucumbers named after the county, cherry tomatoes grown by young local farmers and plum-filled bread made with locally grown plums.
They also shared sikhye, a traditional sweet rice drink, and regional makgeolli made with locally grown Jerusalem artichokes, served from a kettle.
Lee spoke informally with attendees about farming conditions, local concerns and rural livelihoods.
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryeong, Rural Development Administration Vice Administrator Kim Sang-kyung and the acting Gunwi governor were among the officials who attended.
The event was designed to give Lee a firsthand look at rice planting and an opportunity to hear directly from farmers and rural residents.
dagyumji@heraldcorp.com
