'Foreigners' Farmland Purchases' Facilitated by Speculative Roads Will Become More Difficult

Government to Amend Farmland Act
Mandatory Farming Plans for Under 1000㎡
Also Promoting Youth Farming Consignment Law for Inherited Farmland

On the 10th, young willow trees were densely planted on a piece of land in Mujinae-dong, Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do, where allegations of land speculation by some employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) in the Gwangmyeong-Siheung new town have been raised.
Siheung - Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is pushing for measures to raise the threshold for farmland ownership by outsiders. Following criticisms that farmland ownership management was lax amid suspicions of speculation by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) employees in new town areas, the ministry is moving toward making it mandatory for local governments to receive agricultural management plans even for purchases of small-scale farmland under 1000㎡.

According to related ministries on the 12th, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is preparing an amendment to the Farmland Act to strengthen cultivation obligations when non-farmers own farmland. A ministry official said, "As a measure to prevent a recurrence of the LH incident, we are reviewing plans to strengthen management of farmland ownership and acquisition by non-farmers," adding, "We will prepare the bill as soon as possible."

On the 11th, Minister Kim Hyun-soo of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs appeared at the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee plenary meeting and stated regarding the speculation allegations by LH employees, "We will prepare measures to strengthen the system to prevent speculative acquisition of farmland using internal information."

The direction of the Farmland Act amendment can be summarized in two main points. Even when purchasing small-scale farmland under 1000㎡, an agricultural management plan must be submitted, and if cultivation does not take place, the farmland sale will be forced. A ministry official said, "We cannot disclose specific improvement measures at this stage," but explained, "Since last year, the Presidential Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Policy (Nongteukwi), the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice (Gyeongsilryeon), and others have emphasized the need to impose obligations to strengthen management of farmland ownership and acquisition by non-farmers."

This is because the current system, which makes it difficult to submit agricultural management plans for small-scale farmland and to check compliance afterward, has exposed loopholes such as splitting ownership shares. Also, under the current Farmland Act, even if agricultural management is not conducted after purchasing farmland, local governments can issue a disposal order within six months after detection during farmland use surveys.

In this regard, Assemblyman Joo Cheol-hyun of the Democratic Party has proposed an amendment to the Farmland Act, approved by the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, allowing local governments to dispose of farmland if non-farmers do not use the land for agricultural management for three years after purchase. However, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs expressed at the bill subcommittee that "three years is too long."

Similar legislative work is underway in the National Assembly. Assemblyman Yoon Jae-gap of the Democratic Party plans to soon propose an amendment to the Farmland Act that entrusts the management of inherited farmland to the Korea Rural Community Corporation. There are also plans to propose an amendment to the Public Officials Ethics Act requiring officials related to farmland, such as those from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Rural Development Administration, to sell farmland acquired within a short period.

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