The Korea Rural Economic Institute forecasts significant impacts on the rice and soybean markets in 2024 due to the direct payment system for strategic crops. The system improvements are expected to reduce the rice cultivation area, keeping rice prices higher than the previous year. Meanwhile, the soybean cultivation area is expected to increase by 1.9%, with prices lower than the previous year. The first half of this year will see a lower yield due to increased supply, particularly in carry-over storage potatoes, open field spring potatoes, and highland potatoes. The cultivation area for open field spring potatoes is predicted to increase by 1.1% in 2024, while the area for highland potatoes will decrease by 2.5%.