Kim In-jung, President of the Korea Rural Community Corporation, stated today (the 14th) that "if lease contracts are terminated due to the comprehensive farmland survey, those farming households are being given top priority for support through the Farmland Bank program."

President Kim made the remarks in response to a related question by Representative Joo Chul-hyun of the Democratic Party of Korea during the parliamentary audit of affiliated organizations of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs by the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee.

When Representative Joo pointed out that "if farmers lose their farmland due to terminated lease contracts, it is difficult for actual cultivators to succeed the land, often resulting in the land being left idle," President Kim explained, "In consideration of concerns on the ground, we implemented protection measures for leases and restructured the system so that existing transaction relationships are recognized as they are if they entrust their land for lease."

President Kim also announced plans to reduce regional disparities in the Farmland Bank's farmland acquisition budget.

Representative Shin Jang-shik of the Rebuilding Korea Party pointed out that about 3,300 hectares (ha; 1 ha equals 10,000 square meters) of farmland purchase applications under the Farmland Bank are on a waiting list, and that there are significant regional disparities in the backlog.

President Kim stated, "Although we allocate provincial budgets considering past project performance, disparities occur because application conditions vary by region." He added that the corporation is reviewing a method for next year to reserve a portion of the budget and then additionally allocate it according to application trends or allow flexible reallocations among provincial budgets.

He continued, "When allocating next year's budget, we will take into account this year's backlog and strive to minimize regional disparities."

(Photo: Yonhap News)