President Lee: "Comprehensive Farmland Inspection Is Crucial... Must Do What Needs to Be Done Despite Obstacles"

President Lee Jae-myung stressed that "a comprehensive inspection of farmland is absolutely necessary to prevent farmland speculation and ensure proper farmland use," emphasizing that what needs to be done must be done despite significant interference and backlash.

Visiting New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, President Lee wrote on his social media on September 23, local time, declaring, "The 'farmland-to-tillers' principle and the government's efforts to uphold it are a mandate of the Constitution, which is the command of the people," adding, "All past administrations avoided this due to resistance and backlash, but I will not avoid it."

President Lee explained, "The law established by the people and the National Assembly mandates the compulsory sale of farmland if someone reported that they would farm but bought the land for speculation, leaving it neglected while waiting only for land prices to rise, or leasing it illegally."

He added, "If a law is not going to be followed, it should not have been made in the first place, or it ought to be abolished."

He also added, "I believe that the people made me president to pursue real estate reform and to change a flawed world where crafty people who slyly break the law make money through farmland speculation, while law-abiding citizens suffer relative disadvantages."

President Lee noted, "Please do not misunderstand," pointing out, "Farmland where people can no longer farm due to old age, or farmland that was inherited, is not subject to this."

He continued, "There are many cases where farmland speculators agitate with lies to bring non-targets to their side, attacking the government and me in order to derail speculation penalties against themselves," pointing out that this is because reforms become increasingly difficult when approval ratings decline.

Asking, "Even if obstacles increase and backlash grows, we must do what needs to be done, right?" President Lee wrote, "I trust the vast majority of good and honest citizens."

He also asked Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung to "explain this well so that there is no misunderstanding," and added, "Thank you for keeping Chuseok prices stable and working hard on agriculture, livestock, and fisheries administration."

(Photo: Captured from President Lee Jae-myung's X, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.