Rival Parties Clash Over Protest Placards, Grill Ministry on Nationwide Farmland Inspection

[Anchor]

The parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs was noisy all day due to a controversy surrounding the nationwide farmland inspection. The session was disrupted right from the start as the Democratic Party protested against placard displays by the People Power Party, and lawmakers from both sides continued to lash out at the agricultural inspection even after the audit resumed.

Reporter Jeong Seong-jin has the details.

[Reporter]

Placards reading "Driving out farmers only to install solar panels in the end?" were displayed at every lawmaker's seat of the People Power Party.

The move targeted remarks by President Lee Jae-myung suggesting that converting farmland for solar power projects could yield several times more income.

In response, the Democratic Party demanded the removal of the placards, arguing that they distorted the purpose of the nationwide farmland inspection, causing the audit to be suspended about 30 minutes after it began.

When the audit resumed, the People Power Party zeroed in on remarks made by President Lee Jae-myung during a Cabinet meeting last February.

[Lee Sung-kwn / People Power Party Lawmaker: I believe the spreader of misinformation is the president. Field prices that are virtually abandoned in mountain valleys range from 200,000 won to 300,000 won. Is that correct?]

Lawmakers argued that pushing forward with the nationwide inspection based on flawed perceptions—at a time when farmland prices and transaction volumes have already been declining for years—has exacerbated damages to farmers.

Security issues regarding the investigation process also came under fire.

Chinese-made drones were used to film farmland, and Russian-made software was used to process the footage, with critics pointing out that security reviews were not properly conducted.

[Kim Yong-tae / People Power Party Lawmaker: Collecting land information and databases without conducting security reviews due to budget issues is a very dangerous mindset, isn't it?]

[Song Miryung / Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs: We are managing it so that the collected data is not transmitted externally.]

Even lawmakers from the ruling party pointed out the ministry's lack of preparation and inadequate response in the field, demanding an apology from the minister.

Demands were also raised to change the investigation method to focus on farmland with speculative concerns.

[Lee Gae-ho / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Do you have any intention to make a major shift in the nationwide farmland inspection to focus on speculative land in the Seoul metropolitan area?]

[Song Miryung / Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs: We will look into it.]

While acknowledging the lack of preparation, Minister Song stated that conventional violations are not subject to disciplinary action and pledged to overhaul out-of-touch farmland systems through the revision of special acts and the Farmland Act.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video Reported by Shin Dong-hwan | Video Edited by Won Hyung-hee)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.