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Even if you want to use electronic products for a long time, you buy new products when parts are not available or repairs are expensive.

Overseas, at this time, consumers are guaranteed the right to renew the product themselves.

This year, we are also taking our first steps in Korea.



Jang Se-man is an environmental reporter.



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John Deere, the largest agricultural machinery manufacturer in the United States, put a lock on the control software of agricultural machinery such as tractors, making it impossible to repair even the owner or outside mechanic without permission from the head office.



[American Montana Farmer: Even if this one is broken, I can fix it by looking at the manual.

However, the (John Deere) tractor next to it must have the software (provided by the head office).]



Eventually, when even pirated programs that hacked the John Deere software appeared, the company backed down.



John Deere and the American Farmers Federation signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this month allowing farmers to self-repair John Deere products.



This is a case in which consumers won the right to repair a product, and this year in Korea, the 'Electronic Product Repair Right Guarantee System' is promoted.



It is to prevent the company from inducing customers to buy new products by making repairs difficult.



This is because waste electronic products lead to environmental destruction.



The Ministry of Environment plans to set priority product groups for guaranteeing repair rights this year, and establish new standards for the types and retention periods of repair parts that companies must acquire.



[Seo Young-tae/Manager of the Ministry of Environment: The core of the circular economy is actually making products available for a long time.

We will prepare specific plans this year so that (repair right guarantee) can be implemented in 2025.]



In France, a system that ranks a repairability index based on how easy it is to repair a product has been in effect since last year, and our Ministry of Environment We are also considering introducing a similar system.



(Video editing: Lee Sang-min)