SEOUL, April 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday vetoed a bill that made it mandatory for the government to purchase excess rice, according to the presidential office.
Yoon rejected the revised grain management act at a cabinet meeting, marking his first veto since he took office in May last year.
The National Assembly, controlled by the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, passed the revision 12 days ago.
The rejected bill forced the government to purchase all overproduced rice when the excess production is 3 percent to 5 percent higher than rice demand or when rice prices fall 5 percent to 8 percent compared to the previous year.
The Democratic Party had pushed the bill to stabilize rice prices and income for farmers.
Yoon said the revision was a typical populist bill that goes against the government's goal of expanding agricultural productivity and raising the income of farming households while being of no help to farmers and rural development.
The president noted that the revision was a law for the forced purchase of leftover rice that required the government to buy all of the leftover rice with an enormous amount of taxpayers' money regardless of rice consumption in the market.
To pass the bill again in the National Assembly, it is required to win two-thirds approval in a vote with at least half of incumbent lawmakers being present.
