Is It Possible to Prove a 'Fake Farmer'... Feasibility of Forced Disposal of Farmland

Saplings were planted on the 10th on a piece of land in Gwarim-dong, Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do, where allegations of land speculation by some employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) in the Gwangmyeong and Siheung new towns have been raised. / Siheung = Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

The government has announced plans to implement a ‘forced disposal measure for farmland’ in connection with allegations of speculation by employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) in the 3rd New Town development, drawing attention to the feasibility of this measure.

On the 15th, the government stated that it would "swiftly pursue forced disposal measures for farmland based on investigation results" against 20 suspected speculators identified in the first round of a joint government investigation targeting LH and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport employees.

The legal basis for forced disposal of farmland is Article 6 of the Farmland Act, which states that "farmland cannot be owned unless it is used or intended to be used for one's own agricultural management." Article 10 of the Farmland Act also stipulates that "if it is determined that acquisition was for speculative purposes using insider information, the local government head may impose a disposal obligation on the farmland owner." If the disposal obligation is not fulfilled within one year, a penalty of 20% of the land value of the farmland is imposed annually until the disposal order is complied with.

However, experts point out that it is not easy to determine farmland ownership by non-farmers and whether the land is actually cultivated. Agricultural operations are highly outsourced and segmented, making it difficult to identify the ‘real farmers.’

Professor Sadongcheon of the Department of Law at Hongik University explained, "In paddy farming, even farmers themselves rarely cultivate the land directly?less than 10% do so. Pesticides and fertilizers are often applied by external companies such as drone operators, and the farmers themselves may only manage irrigation." Determining ‘speculative purposes using insider information’ falls within the realm of specialized investigation, and proving this is also challenging.

Even if grounds for forced disposal are established through ‘confessions’ or other means, the disposal process is complicated. All lands suspected of speculation are designated as land transaction permission zones, making voluntary disposal through transactions virtually impossible.

Requests can be made for purchase by the Korea Rural Community Corporation, but this is also difficult because the corporation’s purchase price standard is based on individually announced land prices, which are much lower than market prices.

If lawsuits arise between landowners and the government over property rights infringement in the future, the government may be at a legal disadvantage. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that inherited farmland can be continuously owned by the heir even if the heir does not farm it directly. Although the dispute concerned inherited farmland, the ruling was significant as the Supreme Court’s first decision that farmland can be continuously owned without farming.

Professor Sadongcheon said, "The core of the Supreme Court ruling is that there is no legal provision to force non-farmers to dispose of farmland," adding, "It is necessary to establish separate legislative regulations to enforce farmland disposal."

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