hankyoreh

Discouraged by the April 2 settlement of a S.K.-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA), a farmer fired upon several others, killing one and injuring another two.

The farmer, identified by the last name Lee, 44, was drinking with fellow villagers at the house of another farmer, identified as Roh, 48, in Yecheon-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, on the night of April 3.

Lee was lamenting his financial situation, then suddenly left. When he returned, he brought with him a 5.0-mm air rifle that he kept in his house. Lee fired his air rifle toward the people present, shouting, "The FTA with the U.S. has been struck. The world is over and I don’t want to live any longer! I want you to leave this hopeless and dirty world, as well!" according to police.

Lee shot two men in the room, including Roh, as well as Roh’s son, 22, who had heard the gunfire and rushed to the scene.

Roh died on the spot and the other two were sent to the hospital. Lee fled the scene in his truck and is being sought by authorities.

One of those shot, Lee’s 43-year-old neighbor, who is being treated at a hospital for his rifle wounds, said, "We were very close friends. Since hearing the news about the FTA signing, Lee hasn’t slept at all out of worries about his livelihood."

According to police, Lee graduated from high school in his hometown of Yecheon, and after completing his mandatory military service, he moved to Daegu. After learning technical skills, Lee began to produce welding instruments at a factory there. However, his business failed when the Asian financial crisis hit Korea hard in the late 1990s. After that, Lee returned to Yecheon, thinking that the land would not betray his efforts, friends said.

Per the government’s policies to promote farmers, Lee borrowed money to purchase more land and farmed rice on area of about 20,000 pyeong (one pyeong is equal to 3.3 square meters). He repaid his loan on time and actively took part in various farmers’ organizations. His life appeared to be a success story of one who returned to work the land.

However, the reality was the opposite. Profits from rice farming on sloping rice paddies were dropping daily, and their fall became even more pronounced after the partial opening of the domestic rice market in 2004. Lee then tried to grow fruit trees, but that venture failed, as well, and he pulled up all the trees a few years ago. He was feeling more and more pressure while trying to support his elderly parents and two children.

Lee’s last choice was to raise cattle. At the end of 2005, Lee built a large barn with over 100 million won (US$107,000), borrowing some of it from the bank, and began to raise about 40 calves. To obtain more related information, he attended classes in the department of animal husbandry at a nearby college.

When the nation started negotiations on an FTA with the United States in February last year, Lee became anxious. Even though he did not earn much money from his cattle raising, feed for the animals was a constant financial burden. His debt to the bank had snowballed to more than 140 million won, and he also owed a huge amount of money to his friends.

The FTA with the U.S. was the final blow for Lee. Since the nation and the U.S. agreed upon the FTA, Lee had felt hopeless and had not slept at all, friends said. There was a news report that the price of calves has started to fall by hundreds of thousands of won. Drinking with his fellow farmers on an April evening, he made an irrevocable choice.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]