“I will give you a high price for rice”... I made a promise, but I don’t know about the settlement.

Non-payment of private RPC fee in Pyeongtaek City
Farmers fail to make a farming plan
Company promises to “pay before the Lunar New Year holiday”

Recently in front of rice processing plant A in Yulbuk-ri, Cheongbuk-eup, Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do. Even though it was early in the morning, there were five or six people gathered at the entrance. These were rice farmers who came to meet the company representative. There was occasional shouting between the representative and the farmer. I entrusted rice here last fall, but the payment was not properly settled for over two months.

“I left the rice here on October 24th last year. Usually, the payment is made the next day or within three days at the latest, but I have been putting it off day after day, so it is draining me day by day.”

Park Eun-seong (76), who lives in Oseong-myeon, Pyeongtaek-si, came here with his wife out of frustration. He has been farming rice on leased farmland in Pyeongtaek for over 40 years. Last year, I worked hard in a 53,000㎡ (16,000 pyeong) leased rice field, but I did not receive any compensation, so I cannot even think of making a farming plan for this year.

“I didn’t just visit the rice processing plant today. I must have made more than 10 phone calls. I must have made 30 to 40 phone calls. Each time, they promised me, ‘I will definitely give you money in a few days,’ so I trusted them and waited until the year passed.”

The dried rice he entrusted was 21,600 kg, worth over 41 million won. In the meantime, I received 5 to 10 million won on several occasions while scolding and filing lawsuits, but there is still an unsettled balance of 13 million won remaining. It was discovered that other farms would also receive money ranging from several million won to tens of millions of won.

The nightmare of these farmers started when the company said they would pay more than other farmers. Another victimized farm, who requested anonymity, complained, “I left it to Rice Processing Plant A without hesitation when they said they would settle the amount by 2,000 won more per 40kg than other places, but I had no idea I would be shot in the foot like this.” He added, “They keep putting off the settlement date, so now I’m in a state of despair.”

In the local community, it is widely heard that ‘the company in question is in serious financial difficulties.’ A truck driver who specializes in rice transportation in Pyeongtaek said, “There have been rumors since 2023 that this rice processing plant will not be able to pay farmers on time,” adding, “So I even told a close friend to be careful.”

An official from another nearby rice processing plant said, “I heard that Rice Processing Plant A is experiencing difficulties as local rice wholesalers have gone bankrupt one after another. There are also rumors that more than 400 million won has been taken from just one wholesaler.”

Rice Processing Plant A explained that the business difficulties were temporary and that the farmers' receivables could be sufficiently resolved. The CEO of the company said, “It is true that the flow of funds has been strained due to severe natural disasters last year, which resulted in yields falling to the 65% range and many wholesalers going bankrupt due to blocked loans,” and promised, “However, a significant portion of our receivables may be resolved early this month, so we will prioritize settlement with farmers before the Lunar New Year holiday at the latest.”

Despite the company's explanation, the conflict with farmers is not expected to subside easily. Mr. Park raised his voice, saying, “We can’t just wait for the company in question to break the promises they made several times,” and added, “We will look for ways to hold them legally responsible, including filing a police complaint, so that there are no more good victims like us.”

Experts emphasize that in order to respond to such non-payment issues, written contracts must be carefully concluded. Lim Chae-won, senior attorney at Daeryun Law Firm, explained, “Even if you are a regular business, you need to make an effort to write a contract for every transaction. In particular, the contract must clearly stipulate payment terms and deadlines and penalties that arise if they are violated, so that it can be used as important evidence in legal disputes.”

He added, “It is worth considering that the government establishes a payment guarantee system to establish a transaction culture that matches the timing of agricultural product delivery and payment in the mid to long term.”

Reporter Moonsoo Lee (moons@nongmin.com)

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“We will increase the price of rice”... Make a promise and don't know about the settlement (Shortcut)