Soil management priorities in Korea

Objectives of modern agriculture in Korea can be summarized as follows: increasing crop productivity, conserving environmental quality, and mitigating climate change. Sustainable soil management is the key driver for accomplishing these goals by enhancing soil ecosystem services and decreasing soil threats. Soils in Korea, face ever-increasing threats, such as erosion, pollution, sealing, compaction, losses in soil organic matter and biodiversity, and climate change (Kopittke et al., 2021). The soil research in Korea thus focuses on reducing these soil threats. Efforts include soil erosion control, prevention of soil pollution, reduction of inorganic fertilizer applications, mitigating of GHG emissions, and increasing soil carbon sequestration. The Korean government has prepared action plans for these targets, including integrating policies with technology development and requiring farmers' compliance. •Soil management has been a key driver for economic development in Korea.•Korean Soil Information System (KSIS) is developed as a soil management tool.•Paradigm of soil management focuses on reducing soil threats.•Top priority of soil management is to reduce GHG emissions and soil erosion.