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South Korea launches AI plan to support farms, rural areas
South Korea unveiled an AI agenda to boost farm productivity and improve farmers’ quality of life, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Science and ICT announced.
The plan expands smart farms to cover distribution and daily lives and aims to extend benefits from a few high-performing farms to farmers nationwide.
It sets 13 policy tasks and includes shared smart farm machinery centers and a NEXT Farm program to develop autonomous machines and drones jointly with the Rural Development Administration.
The government plans 300 smart Agricultural Products Processing Centers by 2030 with three sites due this year.
Two slaughterhouses processing pork will be designated this year to introduce AI-based grading systems, and the technology will be expanded to the country’s 52 beef processing facilities.
Officials aim to raise the share of pork and beef graded using AI from 19.4% in 2025 to 70% by 2030 and to increase smart rural communities to at least 100 by 2030.
🔗 Source: The Korea Times
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
South Korea’s AI farming push responds to food security concerns
- The government’s new agenda targets a national weak spot tied to food security 1.
- South Korea ranks 39th overall in the 2022 Global Food Security Index. It trails some similar economies on affordability, availability, quality and safety, and sustainability of agricultural products 1.
- Ken Research (a market research firm) values the smart farming market at USD 440 million in its September 2025 report. It also reports growth supported by government backing 2.
- Early smart farm programs report higher output with less work time. Horticulture production rose 33% while labor hours fell 12% in the first year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs as cited by WEDC (the Water, Engineering and Development Centre at Loughborough University) 1.
This national plan could support South Korea’s broader smart farming export ambitions
- The program can set up a wider export push that other sources describe 1.
- South Korea has opened five regional trade centers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Australia. The sites support exports of smart farming goods and services 1.
- The plan adds shared smart farm machinery centers, which fits a common hurdle for adoption. High upfront investment costs often slow take-up 3.
- Lowering entry costs at home may make the smart-farming model easier to copy in countries with similar farm pressures 3.
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