Government to Buy and Lease Out Violating Farmland to Youths at Low Prices

In the government's first-ever nationwide full inspection of agricultural land, about 2.84 million parcels, or 27% of those surveyed, were classified as suspected violations of the Farmland Act.

The government plans to conduct in-depth investigations by the end of the year to confirm violations, and if owners fail to sell their farmlands despite disposal orders or do not farm them directly, the government intends to purchase the properties.

The budget allocated for related projects next year is 886.8 billion won.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has been conducting a full inspection of agricultural land nationwide since May.

Under the Farmland Act, farmers or agricultural corporations that acquire farmland must, in principle, cultivate the land themselves, and must not leave the land idle without justifiable reasons or lease it illegally.

The basic survey identified suspected cases including 21.1% for illegal leasing, 11.6% for unauthorized fallow, and 9% for illegal conversion.

Based on these findings, the government plans to conduct in-depth investigations by the end of the year to determine actual violations of the Farmland Act.

If confirmed as violating farmlands, owners can be ordered to dispose of the land.

If the owners fail to dispose of the farmland within the set period and do not engage in self-farming, the Korea Rural Community Corporation will initiate procedures to purchase the farmland if the owner so desires.

To this end, the government has allocated 886.8 billion won for next year's customized farmland support projects.

This accounts for approximately 95% of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' new project budget of 925.7 billion won for next year.

The government plans to use the acquired farmland to lease it at low costs to young farmers and full-time farmers.

This investigation was pushed forward following instructions from President Lee Jae-myung to track down and take action on farmlands held for speculative purposes.

In the agricultural sector, some point out that given the aging population and the breakdown of farming succession where farmland leasing is often inevitable, the reality of rural areas should be taken into consideration rather than applying uniform disposal measures.

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Jang Yu-jin | Design by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.