Park calls for efforts to make agriculture key industry

SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Yonhap) -- President Park Geun-hye called Friday for efforts to make agriculture a key industry by integrating information technology and biotechnology.

"Our agriculture faces challenges, but we can create a new opportunity depending on how we recognize and approach it," Park said in an agriculture fair for those who either want to create an agricultural business or to return to rural areas for agriculture.

Many young people have left rural areas over the past decades as they sought to find jobs in Seoul and other major cities.

But the number of households who returned to rural areas from major cities stood at 45,000 last year as young people seek to start agricultural business by taking advantage of information technology and the Internet, said Park.

Park also vowed to drastically cut red tape in agriculture and food sectors, noting that people should create additional value for agriculture by combining it with distribution, sales and tourism.
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