Gwangju Nam-gu to Conduct 'Farmland Use Survey' Until Year-End

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Nam-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kim Byeong-nae) announced on the 2nd that it will conduct the '2020 Farmland Usage Survey.'

This survey was promoted to verify whether farmers are lawfully using farmland after acquiring it, in order to realize the constitutional principle of the right to cultivate land (Gyeonja-yujeon). It will be conducted until the end of this year.

The survey targets all farmland newly acquired within five years from July 1, 2015, to June 30 of this year.

However, farmland acquired and owned by the state and local governments, collateral farmland acquired and owned by farmland mortgage institutions according to relevant laws, farmland acquired less than three months ago, and farmland used for agricultural management by the owner for more than eight years after acquisition are excluded from the survey.

The farmland usage survey is primarily conducted through on-site inspections, but if necessary, procedures to verify related documents will also be carried out concurrently.

In particular, to identify farmland acquired for speculative purposes such as illegal customary leasing and usage fees, a focused investigation will be conducted by comparing the farmland ledger with agricultural management entity registration details.

If it is confirmed through the survey that the farmland is not used for agriculture without justifiable reasons or is illegally leased, farmland disposal obligations will be imposed after a hearing process.

Once disposal obligations are imposed, farmland owners must dispose of or cultivate the farmland within one year. If they fail to comply, an enforcement penalty of about 20% of the official land price of the farmland will be imposed annually until the farmland is disposed of.

A Nam-gu official stated, “We will continuously manage farmland to ensure it is used for its original purpose and not targeted for speculation by non-farmers.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.