▲ Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Miryung holds a briefing on follow-up measures for the full-scale farmland survey and directions for institutional reform at the Government Complex Sejong in Sejong City on the 8th.
The government has decided to exclude five types of farmland, including inherited agricultural land and plots owned by elderly farmers, from disposal orders stemming from the ongoing nationwide farmland survey.
During a briefing at the Sejong Complex on the 8th, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Miryung stated, "We will push for the enactment of a special measure law so that general cases—rather than speculation—do not proceed with disposal procedures under the Farmland Act based on the results of this survey."
Minister Song explained, "This means that even if discrepancies with current Farmland Act regulations are identified during the survey, we will block them from leading to disposal procedures through a special law that takes precedence over the Farmland Act."
The categories expected to be excluded from disposal under the special act include ▲ inherited farmland, ▲ farmland leased through customary practices by elderly farmers, ▲ farmland with complex ownership relations such as clan lands, temples, or unregistered inheritances, ▲ landlocked parcels and farmland difficult to farm, and ▲ unauthorized facilities such as agricultural warehouses.
Minister Song said, "Regardless of whether they are entrusted to the Farmland Bank, these general matters will not be subjected to disposal procedures," adding, "We will allow agricultural workers to choose to lease or sell them to the Farmland Bank if they wish." She further emphasized, "Unless it is a clear speculative act, our basic policy is not to force the disposal of farmland or impose compliance fines because of the results of this survey."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) plans to decide whether to issue disposal orders under the current Farmland Act for clear acts of speculation after undergoing a sufficient explanation process.
The types of speculation subject to disposal include ▲ cases where agricultural land was acquired by submitting a farming plan in a land transaction permission zone but left abandoned or leased without actual farming, ▲ cases where agricultural land shares were purchased via auction with the submission of a false farming plan to resell them after price increases and left abandoned or leased, and ▲ cases where agricultural land was acquired through an agricultural corporation and used to generate real estate profits by subdividing and selling or leasing it instead of farming directly.
MAFRA and the Democratic Party of Korea plan to propose the special act this month and push for its legislation so that parliamentary procedures can be completed by December.
The three-stage roadmap involves identifying accumulated field problems and actual farmland usage through the survey, enacting the special act, and revising the Farmland Act in the first half of next year based on the survey results.
In addition, MAFRA plans to establish an integrated farmland platform linking information scattered across registries, land ledgers, farmland ledgers, agricultural business entities, and farmland conversion permits, while operating a farmland survey counseling center starting next week.
The role of the Farmland Bank will also be expanded.
The government plans to discuss an increase in next year's budget with the National Assembly to reduce the volume of land pending purchase, and expand the Farmland Bank's purchasing targets from plots centered in promotion zones to non-promotion zones available for agricultural use.
Furthermore, the government will prioritize purchasing and supplying necessary farmland in consideration of regional demand from young and full-time farmers, and improve procedures so that visitors can handle related agency tasks all at once simply by visiting the Farmland Bank.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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