[Exclusive] Farmland Management Changes After 48 Years... Government Pushes for Introduction of Farmland Ledger

'Human-Centered → Land-Centered' Transition of Tracking and Traceability System
Part of Measures to Eradicate Land Speculation... To Be Reflected in the Amendment of the Farmland Act

A photo showing saplings such as Salix koreensis planted on the 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, taken on the 10th./Siheung=Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government has decided to introduce a 'Farmland Ledger' instead of the 'Nongjiwonbu' as part of measures to eradicate real estate speculation. This marks a major overhaul 48 years after the original system was introduced in 1973 for farmland management. The Nongjiwonbu refers to administrative farmland data containing ownership status and history, but the introduction of the ledger system is expected to make it easier to track the history of specific land parcels rather than the ownership trends of particular individuals. Since it has been difficult to distinguish between dry fields (jeon), rice paddies (dap), and orchards in the Nongjiwonbu, which relied on the presumed recorder's entries, authorities expect land management to become more accurate.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and related departments on the 17th, the Ministry plans to include the introduction of the Farmland Ledger instead of the Nongjiwonbu in the amendment to the Farmland Act and incorporate this into the government’s joint measures against real estate speculation scheduled to be announced at the end of this month. A ministry official said, "Under the current system that verifies cultivation mainly through the Nongjiwonbu, it is impossible to detect changes made by farmers without ledger entries," adding, "We are considering creating a Farmland Ledger similar to the Land Ledger of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport."

Currently, even if dry fields, rice paddies, and orchards are classified as 'farmland' in land categories, it is difficult to verify that they are 100% farmland. Creating a Farmland Ledger would allow proper identification of whether the land category is farmland. Additionally, it will be linked with parcel-centered documents such as certified copies of the register and land ledgers, enabling comprehensive disclosure of real estate information related to farmland.

The Nongjiwonbu is an administrative ledger collected by local governments to grasp the status of farmland, ownership, and usage by farmers cultivating farmland of 1,000㎡ or more. However, there are many criticisms that it is not properly utilized due to limitations in local governments’ data collection.

According to the Korea Rural Economic Institute, the registration rate of the Nongjiwonbu is only 70% of the total. The remaining 30% is not submitted. Although local governments can investigate on their own authority, it is not easy to verify all farmland nationwide in this way. A ministry official said, "If farmland under 1,000㎡ is owned, the Nongjiwonbu does not have to be created." According to the institute’s own survey, about 15% of all farmland is illegally owned. While fallow farmland can be detected during farmland usage surveys, it has been difficult to properly identify illegally leased farmland.

However, detailed aspects require more thorough review. The possibility of linking the Farmland Ledger with the Ministry of Land’s Land Ledger is also being discussed.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs also plans to prepare an amendment to the enforcement decree as early as next month to entrust the Korea Rural Community Corporation with supporting local governments’ verification of the Nongjiwonbu. A ministry official said, "We have already allocated an additional budget of 4.9 billion KRW to support personnel from the Rural Community Corporation who will be involved in local governments’ farmland verification work."

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