Rice (Oryza sativa L.) paddy soils are major sources of methane (CH4) emission in the agricultural sector, andthus it is necessary to mitigate CH4 emission from paddy soils. In this review, we have investigated the changesin CH4 emission in South Korea for the last decades in relation with changes in rice cultivation area and riceproduction amount. We have also suggested managements for CH4 reduction in rice cultivation systems. During the last 25 years since 1998, rice cultivation area has decreased by 30.8% and total CH4 emission hasalso decreased by 33.5% accordingly. During the same period, total rice production has decreased by 23.8%,but rice production per unit area increased by 9.2% due to advances in agricultural technologies. The riceproduction per unit area was affected by rainfall (negatively) and air temperature (positively) in rice growingseasons, while CH4 emissions per unit area for the last 25 years (8.10 - 8.81 ton (CO2eq) ha-1) were not affectedby weather conditions. However, CH4 emissions per unit rice production (1.57 - 1.97 ton (CO2eq) ton-1) werepositively and negatively correlated with rainfall and air temperature, respectively, owing to the dependencyof rice yield on weather conditions. Literature suggested that intermittent irrigation and shallow depth i...