Agricultural Value Resurfaces through the Traditional Rice Harvesting Event and the Traditionally Passed-Down Farming Song 

Sejong, 17 October 2025 — On 22 October, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) and the National Agricultural Museum of Korea (NAMUK) will hold a traditional rice harvesting event at the museum’s terraced rice paddies, which will offer visitors the chance to experience Korea’s agricultural heritage.

About 60 students from Guwoon Elementary School in Suwon-si, who participated in the hand-planting of rice seedlings in May this year, will return to the museum to experience the traditional rice harvesting process using sickles to reap the Korean native rice they planted themselves.

In addition to rice harvesting, visitors will enjoy a performance of Gyeolseong Nongyo, a traditionally passed-down farming song sung by farmers in Gyeolseong-myeon of Hongseong-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, during various farming tasks such as rice planting, weeding, and threshing. The traditional farming song, which was registered as an intangible cultural heritage of Chungcheongnam-do on 30 November 1996, highlights community spirit and joy. The farming song, which consists of segments from a march to a grand folk performance, will offer a vibrant and festive experience and allow the audience to enjoy lively melodies and dances alongside the harvesting activities.

After the rice harvest, visitors will have an opportunity to experience additional traditional rice farming activities using traditional tools such as threshing, winnowing, and carrying grain with a “jige” (Korea’s traditional A-frame carrier). These hands-on experiences and performances will be open to the general public as well.

Director Oh Kyung-Tae of the National Agricultural Museum of Korea said: “I hope that this event of reenacting traditional agricultural practices will serve as an opportunity to raise the public’s awareness of the value of agriculture and highlight the importance of food security, an issue of great urgency facing the global community included in the UN’s sustainable development goals." 

Director Oh added, “I would like to express my gratitude to the Gyeolseong Nongyo Preservation Society for sharing the joy of a bountiful harvest through their performance.”