President Lee Jae-myung said today (September 18) regarding the conservative opposition's critical offensive against the government's comprehensive survey of agricultural land that the criticism stems from misunderstandings, adding, "Opponents of reform are powerful."

At a press conference held at Cheong Wa Dae today, President Lee stated, "I know that I am receiving tremendous criticism over this issue."

President Lee explained, "(Critics) protest, saying, 'My father farmed, but now he cannot farm because it is too hard; are you telling us to sell it by force?' But this is not true. Rather, we would help by purchasing it, not making it subject to sanctions."

He repeatedly emphasized that the survey should not be interpreted as sanctions against fallow land rather than speculation, adding, "What the government is doing is identifying clear real estate speculation, and it is a baseline survey to examine the status of farmland."

In particular, President Lee pointed out, "However, real estate speculators are propagandizing by saying, 'You don't farm either, right? You're also subject to forced sale,' in order to win people over to their side."

He added, "If they say, 'If you cannot farm, Lee Jae-myung will take away (your farmland),' people end up misunderstanding. Yet it is difficult for the government to explain individually that this is not true."

President Lee further elaborated, "(When institutional reforms are pursued,) those who suffer disadvantages mobilize like solid concrete to protect what is theirs and agitate people around them. I understand that too. It is quite natural."

He also assessed, "(When you carry out reforms,) you gain allies, but you also create opponents, and the power of opponents is more than 10 times stronger than that of allies. That is why the momentum for reform gradually weakens."

Nevertheless, President Lee said, "I will do what I have to do. I did not become president to enjoy authority or prestige, or because I liked the position. I did it because I wanted to work."

He continued, "Because I focused on the work and on the results, I painfully realized that not being attentive throughout that process was a very big problem. Someday, I will need to properly explain my sincerity to the public."

Meanwhile, addressing concerns that he might be getting too specifically involved in various policies, such as the recent introduction of the abortion pill 'Mifegyne,' President Lee said, "Many people worry that I am micromanaging every state affair personally, but I have neither the time nor the capacity to attend to every single affair myself."

President Lee said, "However, in the case of abortion pills, deciding either for or against it inevitably invites backlash from one side or the other, so in such situations, ministries usually end up doing nothing at all. I don't think that is right. We intend to resolve such difficult tasks under our own responsibility."

(Photo: Yonhap News)