As the Korean Wave, including K-pop and K-dramas, spreads globally, the popularity of Korean agricultural products is also steadily rising.

As of September 2025, the export volume of domestic pears totaled 3,280 tons (USD 101,480,000, approximately KRW 145 billion), a 33.4% increase compared to the same month last year. Apples exported amounted to 5.6 tons (USD 198,000, approximately KRW 286.76 million), marking a 140% increase from the previous year. Exports of major items such as grapes, tangerines, and tomatoes also generally increased. Korean fruits have established themselves as 'premium' fruits in overseas markets due to their taste, high sweetness, and stable quality. The export destinations are also expanding globally, including the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, and Russia.

The driving force behind the enhanced competitiveness of Korean agricultural products is the rapidly spreading smart farms over the past few years. Automated greenhouse control systems, pest management using drones, and precision farming based on soil and climate data have been established in the field, significantly improving both productivity and quality.

Agriculture has now entered an era of smart innovation, combining the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and artificial intelligence (AI), beyond simple crop cultivation. IoT-based sensors monitor and transmit soil conditions, climate, crop growth, and water supply status in real-time, while AI control systems automatically adjust temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration, and irrigation based on the transmitted data to provide the optimal environment for crop growth.

However, advanced technology alone is not enough. The 'market power' that protects the value of smart agricultural products must be supported for 'innovation' to be complete. At this point, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) play a decisive role. Major agreements such as those with the US, EU, and ASEAN have lowered tariff barriers and simplified export procedures such as customs and quarantine, giving K-agricultural products advantageous market access compared to competing countries. In fact, last year, thanks to the effects of the Korea-US FTA, domestic strawberry exports increased by 15% compared to the previous year, and new markets were developed for peppers and onions, expanding the export base.

The government is operating multifaceted support policies to maximize the synergy effect of smart agriculture and FTAs. The 'FTA Supplementary Measures' project, worth approximately KRW 39.1 trillion, which has been promoted since 2008, aims to enhance the competitiveness of domestic agriculture, achieving results linked to quality improvement, productivity and sales increase, and export activation.

By year, in 2022, approximately KRW 1.7 trillion of FTA supplementary measures were implemented, and in 2023, about KRW 1.6 trillion was invested in the development of the field crop industry, livestock manure treatment support, and the promotion of clean forestry product utilization projects. In 2024, about KRW 1.4 trillion was supported for agricultural loan interest subsidies, livestock slaughter and processing company support, forage production base expansion, and smart farm ICT convergence expansion projects. In 2025, support continues for key projects such as fruit quality facility modernization, fruit specialized production complex base establishment, and smart farm ICT convergence expansion projects.

Such direct support for agriculture by the government is transforming the overall structure of the agricultural ecosystem. The most significant achievement is the improvement of farm income through quality enhancement and production increase, and above all, the establishment of a sustainable agricultural foundation.

Kim Mi-jeong, a representative cultivating tangerines in Seogwipo City, Jeju Island, installed rain shelters and ventilation fans with government support. The installation of rain shelters and ventilation fans allowed stable management of temperature, humidity, and water supply, reducing the damage from fruit cracking. As a result, the quality of tangerines improved, and the average selling price increased from KRW 5,000 to KRW 10,000 per 3.75 kg. Although production per unit area decreased by 20% compared to before the support, the selling price increased significantly, and income increased by 60%.

The 'Gagopa Export Agricultural Cooperative Corporation' in Changwon, Gyeongnam, established a smart greenhouse system with facility and logistics cost support from the government and local governments. Seven farms participate in cultivating paprika in a 99,000㎡ vinyl greenhouse, automatically checking and managing temperature, humidity, and CO₂ concentration with a computer control system. Water and nutrient solutions are also supplied automatically. In 2024, the total harvest volume was 280,000 tons, with 90% exported to Japan. In December last year, the first export volume of 600 kg was sent to the Philippines by air, targeting the Southeast Asian market.

Kim Seung-hyun, who cultivates salad lettuce in Namwon, Jeonbuk, introduced smart farm facilities with support for sensor equipment, control equipment, and information systems. The production per pyeong (3.3㎡) in the IoT-applied house increased to about 4.5 kg, about 1.3 times higher than in a general house, and the selling price is traded at about KRW 500 higher per kg than general lettuce.

The 'Cham Nuri Insect Farm' in Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do, established a smart insect breeding system with support for high-quality feed source homogenization projects and insect processing product development and commercialization projects. By integrating IoT technology into insect breeding and production facilities, including an automatic feeding system and temperature and humidity control facilities, a low-cost, high-quality, high-value-added structure was established, and a foundation linking production, processing, and distribution was built. As a result, sales expanded significantly from approximately KRW 120 million in 2022 to about KRW 550 million in 2025.

Education programs for farmers are also driving changes in the field. The 'Smart Agriculture·FTA Integrated Education Program' operated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is designed to help farmers understand advanced farming technologies and simultaneously utilize the market access advantages provided by FTAs. Customized lectures have been conducted for about 5,000 farmers nationwide, and the educational content is broadly composed beyond simple machine operation to include data utilization methods, export customs procedures, tax benefits, and promising market analysis by item.

A farmer who participated in the education said, “I learned which country and consumer group to target to sell my agricultural products competitively,” adding, “The biggest advantage is being able to devise a marketing strategy considering the different consumer preferences of each FTA-signing country.”

Another pillar enhancing field competitiveness is the advancement of smart agricultural machinery. Autonomous rice transplanters and tractors have already entered the commercialization stage, and a level 4 unmanned autonomous tractor based on AI is also set to be released. Daedong Co., Ltd. plans to launch this tractor, capable of performing highly skilled tasks through data learning, in March 2026.

Precision agriculture services are also yielding results. By analyzing cultivation environments such as farmland conditions, crop growth, and pest occurrence rates, fertilizers and pesticides are prescribed in a customized manner to maximize productivity. Daedong conducted a demonstration project for farmers from 2021 to 2024, resulting in an 8.4% reduction in fertilizer input and a 19.2% increase in yield for small farms compared to conventional farming methods. In Kimje, a farming entity cultivating over 50 hectares (151,250 pyeong), fertilizer input decreased by 7%, and yield increased by 6.9%.

Experts evaluate that “smart farming is actually creating high added value in agriculture,” and “FTAs serve as a primer to ensure that these achievements do not end temporarily but continue stably in the market.”

There is also a suggestion from the field that it is important to spread these success stories more widely. It is necessary to expand excellent farm field visits, technology mentoring, and consulting programs by item in connection with local governments, agricultural cooperatives, and private research institutions, and standardize them at the regional level.

Now that the global market is open, smart agriculture and FTAs need to be combined to maximize results. Advanced technology must ensure quality, and FTAs must lower market entry barriers for K-agricultural products to confidently compete on tables worldwide. If farmers, the government, and the private sector unite in one direction, K-agricultural products can open a new field of innovation, just as K-pop and K-dramas opened the world.

Production support: Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs·Korea Rural Economic Institute

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