Preventing a 'Second LH Scandal'... Government Mandates Agricultural Land Ledger Registration

A plot of land in Mujinae-dong, Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do, where some employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) are suspected of land speculation in the Gwangmyeong and Siheung new towns, was planted with saplings such as Salix koreensis on the 10th of last month. / Siheung - Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] From now on, the criteria for preparing the Nongjiwonbu (Farm Management Ledger) will change from being based on farmers to being based on individual land parcels, and the management will be entrusted to the local government of the farmland location instead of the farmers. This measure aims to eliminate blind spots in farmland management to prevent a 'second Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) scandal' and enable more thorough and efficient management.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that it has prepared a revision of the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules of the Farmland Act containing these details and will announce the legislative notice from the 21st until May 31.

According to the main points of the revision, the criteria for preparing the Nongjiwonbu will change from being based on individual farmers to individual land parcels, and the scope of preparation will be expanded from farmland of 1,000㎡ or more to all farmland, thereby abolishing the area restriction. This means that farmland under 1,000㎡ and farmland owned by non-farmers, which currently are not included in the Nongjiwonbu, will all be included, establishing a system capable of managing all farmland.

Additionally, the management authority of the Nongjiwonbu will be changed from the administrative office related to the farmer's address to the administrative office with jurisdiction over the farmland location, unifying the responsibility for farmland management and the preparation of the Nongjiwonbu. This revision is part of the 'Nongjiwonbu System Improvement Plan,' which the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has been promoting since last year through opinion gathering, policy research projects, and consultations with related ministries during the comprehensive reorganization of the Nongjiwonbu.

Until now, the Nongjiwonbu was prepared based on individual farmers and managed as personal information, which has been criticized for failing to properly manage and provide farmland information by parcel. Since not all farmland was included in the Nongjiwonbu, there were limitations in analyzing, processing, and disclosing various information such as ownership, leasing, land use status, and regulations. Especially after the 'land speculation' scandal involving LH employees surfaced, calls to strengthen farmland management to prevent speculative ownership have increased.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to change the name of the Nongjiwonbu, a personal ledger, to 'Nongjidaejang' (Farmland Ledger), similar to other ledgers prepared based on parcels such as the Land Register and Forest Register. Furthermore, the ministry will carry out a 'Farmland Survey and Database (DB) Construction Project' to enable local governments to prepare and manage the Nongjiwonbu for all farmland through phased investigations of farmland that has not been registered in the Nongjiwonbu. The Korea Rural Community Corporation, which manages the Farmland Information Management System, will be responsible for the survey. This year, farmland within agricultural promotion areas and farmland of 3,000㎡ or more among unregistered farmland will be surveyed first, and the remaining farmland will be surveyed by 2022?2023.

Moreover, to supplement the local governments' authority-based management system, the ministry plans to promptly promote amendments to the Farmland Act in cooperation with the National Assembly to impose an 'obligation to report changes' on farmland owners (tenants) when farmland use information such as leases changes.

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