[Anchor]

Protests are mounting among farmers against the government-led comprehensive farmland inspection, with critics calling it a crackdown that ignores the realities of rural life. President Lee Jae-myung has stepped in directly to quell the backlash, explaining that the measure is intended to root out speculative farmlands.

Reporter Jeong Seong-jin has the details.

[Reporter]

Lee Gwan-ho has been farming in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, for over 40 years.

About 70 percent of the land he farms is rented, but he recently received a call from a landowner demanding the land back because the owner intends to farm it directly.

[Lee Gwan-ho / Farmer in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province: (The landowner) said they would come and farm it themselves, so I just gave back about 1,200 pyeong of it. I had no choice but to lose the farmland....]

After President Lee Jae-myung pointed out in February that farmland was becoming a target for speculation, the government launched its first-ever comprehensive farmland inspection.

Among the roughly 10 million land parcels surveyed this year, illegal leasing is suspected in one out of every five locations.

If violations of the Farmland Act are ultimately confirmed following in-depth investigations, disposal orders may be issued, and non-compliance will result in the imposition of compulsory fines.

However, landowners who rented out portions of their land because it is difficult to farm everything on their own, as well as tenant farmers who suddenly find themselves subject to investigation, are pushing back, arguing that the inspection is detached from reality.

[Lee Ho-geun / Farmer in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province: Because of (the landowners') capital gains tax... I farm about 8,000 pyeong, but the lease agreement I wrote covers only 4,000 pyeong.]

Anxiety has also grown as farmlands with complex ownership structures, such as inherited properties or clan-owned lands, have been included in the inspection targets.

[Lee Gwan-ho / Farmer in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province: How can we possibly get seals stamped from about 60 people (who own clan land) and farm it like that?]

Claims are also emerging that farmland transactions have stalled since the inspection began, leading to a drop in land prices.

[Song / Farmer in Sejong: Transactions have dried up, so even if we want to sell the land, it won't sell, and some real estate agencies have even closed down.]

The government has stepped in to calm the situation, stating that it will distinguish between clear speculative acts and customary violations in rural areas, and President Lee Jae-myung also pushed back, noting that concerns have been magnified by propaganda from speculative forces.

[President Lee Jae-myung: What we are doing is targeting properties that were bought with permits but are not actually being farmed and are being used for other purposes. This is to clearly weed out such real estate speculation.]

The Democratic Party plans to hold a party-government consultative meeting with the government on September 21 to discuss supplementary measures for the comprehensive farmland inspection.

(Video Reporter: Seol Chi-hwan, Video Editor: Jang Hyun-ki, Designer: Lee Ga-jin)