"Buying Farmland at Cheap Prices?" Amid Growing Anxieties, Cheong Wa Dae Directly Explains

As anxieties grow among farmers over the nationwide comprehensive farmland survey—the first in 78 years—fearing that the government might force them to sell their farmland and buy it up cheaply, Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office) has stepped forward to directly clarify the situation.

Lee Young-su, Cheong Wa Dae's Secretary for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, appeared on the YouTube broadcast "Fact Bangatgan" today (September 22) and denied rumors of forced sales, stating, "If you do not want to sell, you do not have to."

The government has been conducting a comprehensive survey targeting farmland nationwide since May.

The targets are approximately 1.36 million hectares of farmland acquired since the implementation of the Farmland Act in 1996.

As a result of basic surveys conducted until the end of July, 27 percent of about 10.13 million parcels were classified as having a possibility of violating the Farmland Act.

However, this does not mean that all 27 percent are illegal farmland or subject to disposal.

In-depth surveys are currently underway to determine actual violations through on-site inspections and other methods.

Cheong Wa Dae explained that the purpose of this survey is not to dispose of farmland belonging to ordinary farmers, but to weed out speculative farmland.

The main targets for disposal include farmland acquired in land transaction permission zones, jointly acquired through auctions or similar means, and farmland acquired through fraudulent agricultural corporations that is illegally leased or left fallow, according to the office.

It stated that cases where farming was stopped due to old age or health issues, or inherited farmland, are different.

The explanation is that private leasing is permitted if a person is 60 or older and has farmed directly for five years or more, and inherited farmland of less than 1 hectare can also be consigned.

It also stated that claims claiming disposition notices have already been sent out as a result of the comprehensive survey are not true.

Secretary Lee said, "Not a single disposition notice has been sent out due to the 2026 comprehensive farmland survey."

Regarding claims that the government intends to buy farmland at low prices, the office explained that its policy is to purchase ordinary farmland at market value and speculative farmland at publicly announced land prices.

In addition, regarding claims that farmland prices have dropped due to the comprehensive survey, it stated that farmland transaction volume increased by 2.2 percent this year while prices fell by 4.4 percent, noting that this decline is actually smaller compared to the average annual drop of 9 percent following the LH speculation scandal in 2021.

While apologizing for causing anxiety among farmers, Cheong Wa Dae emphasized that the purpose of the comprehensive survey is to weed out speculative farmland and improve the farmland system to fit reality.

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