From Nov 8-16th, hundreds of farmers joined in a “tractor march” from Jeju island to Seoul organized by the Korean Peasant League (KPL). KPL is part of the united front organizing people’s mobilizations in south Korea alongside the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). 
Rallies were organized in cities and towns along the tractor march’s route. Stops included a visit to Seongju County, where locals are engaged in an ongoing struggle against the US military’s construction of a THAAD missile radar base.
The KPL is demanding action from the government to protect farmers’ rights — including fixing agricultural prices. Under the anarchy of the capitalist market, booms and busts in agricultural prices have created instability and financial ruin for many farmers.
Neoliberal free trade agreements with the US & EU have only worsened the problem. As cheap imports flood the market and drive down prices, pushing Korean farmers into debt as western agro-monopolies reap the profits. See our previous food sovereignty post:
https://twitter.com/nodutdol/status/1459176388888563742
By demanding government regulation over prices, farmers are seeking to protect themselves from predatory monopoly capital. As some of the first to be sacrificed to this imperialist political economy, farmers have also been some of the first and fiercest to fight back.
The tractor march coincided with the November 14th anniversary of the death of Baek Nam-gi, a 70-year-old farmer who was killed in 2016 by police wielding water cannons during the Candlelight Movement. nytimes.com/2016/09/26/wor…
Some of Baek Nam-gi’s last words were slogans from the movement demanding a guarantee on the price of rice. These slogans were invoked by the participants in the tractor march to honor Baek’s memory and advance the farmers’ struggle. ijunnong.net/go/index.php?m…
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