Basic facts:

Korea is traditionally a farming country. Though the image of Korea nowadays is portrayed as an IT nation, it was not until 1970s when Korea became invested in industrialization. Before then, most Koreans lived in the countryside harvesting rice, which we eat every day. Chemical pesticides in Korea is said to be introduced during the end of Chosun era, which is about 1870s. Missionaries from the west had introduced the pesticides. Though it was not widely used at first, constant developments were made (mostly from western countries) and now chemical pesticides are used nearly everywhere.

Incidents/Accidents:

1. Organic food is very popular in Korea, especially for those who live in the cities. Since the townspeople are not experts in discerning what is organic or not, people rely on organic marks certified by the government. However, there have been rumors saying that the verifying process the government takes is to lax the officials glimpse at the farming site only once before giving out the mark. This had been problematic in the early 2000s, so hopefully, the situation would have improved.

2. Chemical pesticides are very dangerous to health, and therefore laws ban the most fatal pesticides from the public. Also, all online pesticide purchase is banned. In reality however, pesticides actually are attainable in pesticide shops in the city, or National Agriculture Cooperative Federation.

3. There was a shocking murder case in 2012 using a harmful pesticide called Gramoxone. A woman had purposely killed her family for insurance money. Paying attention to the fact that Gramoxone was extremely harmful even in a small dose, she committed the crime (extremely dreadful case).

Pros:

True, the consumption rate of rice for Koreans has decreased to 70% as western style meals are gaining popularity. But Korea still needs to harvest appropriate amount of rice, at least for food security reasons. Coupled with the fact that the Korea-Chinese FTA has opened rice market for both countries, our farmers would suffer greatly if they are forced to exclude pesticides. Also, it is highly unrealistic for all the farmers of the country to suddenly stop using chemical pesticides.

Cons:

Chemical pesticides are harmful, as it accumulates in human body. Though the harms had not been realized in Korea, the risks are too high. And not just for humans, too. Chemical pesticides harm the fertility of soil, making the crops yield less in the long term. Careless use of pesticides might make it leak to nearby water sources, harming the whole region. As mentioned above, organic is a huge boom in Korea. Though it may be complicated, transforming the techniques to non-pesticide seems to be the answer that will satisfy the consumers, producers, and nature.