"If Not Speculation, Exempted From Disposal"... Government Releases Another 'Late' Countermeasure

[Anchor]

As backlash continues over the comprehensive farmland investigation, the government has unveiled yet another follow-up measure. It announced that for general cases rather than speculation, farmland will not be ordered for disposal—not just delayed—and that a special legislation will be enacted within this year. However, criticism that this is a belated response seems difficult to avoid.

Reporter Jeong Seong-jin has the details.

[Reporter]

Following the government's announcement in July that a preliminary comprehensive farmland investigation found one out of four locations suspected of violating the Farmland Act, farmers' grievances erupted.

[Lee Kwan-ho / Farmer in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province: (Because the landowners are elderly) they cannot farm so we cultivate it instead, but imposing forced compliance fines or telling us to sell it is something we think shouldn't happen.]

The government, the ruling party, and even the president stepped forward to calm the situation, explaining that the measure was meant to screen out clear-cut speculative practices, and announced last month that it would push for a special law to defer disposal for customary violations.

However, as farmers' dissatisfaction persisted, the government issued a revised countermeasure, firmly stating that if it is not speculation, the land will "not be disposed of."

[Song Miryung / Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs: People might misunderstand and think, 'Won't the land just be disposed of again after a certain grace period?' so we are making that part clear. We will not dispose of farmland based on the results of this investigation.]

The government laid out three major types of speculation—such as acquiring farmland with false farming plans and leaving it neglected without permission—while stating that five types, including controversial inherited farmland and customary tenancy by elderly farmers, will be excluded from disposal.

It also took a step back from its previous measure that required delaying disposal through consignment to the Farmland Bank.

[Song Miryung / Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs: Consigning to the Farmland Bank is not a mandatory requirement to avoid disposal. We do not demand consignment to the Farmland Bank for those who wish to maintain their current status.]

The government plans to enact the special legislation within this year and even revise the Farmland Act in the first half of next year.

Yet, as points were raised even before the comprehensive survey that measures for rural practices were necessary, criticism that this is a belated response appears unavoidable.

[Shin Chang-shik / Rebuilding Korea Party Representative (Day before yesterday, National Assembly Audit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs): Four months ago, the National Assembly Research Service said, 'You need to prepare these measures before conducting a comprehensive farmland investigation.' Why didn't you prepare them?]

Meanwhile, the government stated that it has temporarily suspended filming farmland using Chinese-made drones, which had raised security concerns.

(Videography: Lee Jae-young | Video Editing: Yu Mira, Design: Kang Yun-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.