"5 out of 10 Local Government Heads Own Farmland... Investigation Needed for Farmland Act Violations"

Press Conference Announcing the Status of Farmland Ownership by Gyeongsillyeon

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] It has been revealed that more than half of local government heads own farmland.

The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) held a press conference on the 8th with the National Peasants' Federation and the Korea Organic Farming Association, stating, "Out of 238 local government heads nationwide, 122 (51.2%) own farmland."

CCEJ investigated the farmland ownership status of metropolitan and basic local government heads and local council members who disclosed their assets, based on the asset disclosure data from the Government Ethics Committee, including farmland owned by the officials themselves or their spouses.

The survey targeted 238 local government heads and 818 local council members, totaling 1,056 individuals. The results showed that the total farmland area owned by local government heads was 520,000㎡, valued at approximately 19.9 billion KRW.

Regarding individual farmland ownership among local government heads, Song Cheol-ho, mayor of Ulsan, owned farmland in Jeju under his spouse's name, covering an area of 0.14 hectares (416 pyeong) valued at 272 million KRW, making it the highest-valued farmland owned among metropolitan government heads.

Among basic local government heads, 114 owned farmland, with Kim Joon-sung, mayor of Yeonggwang County in Jeonnam, owning the largest area. Mayor Kim personally owns 3.3 hectares (9,851 pyeong) of land in Yeonggwang, valued at 263 million KRW.

Among metropolitan council members, 383 out of 818 (46.8%) owned farmland, and the total farmland area they held amounted to 1,994,000㎡ with a value of 92.18 billion KRW.

CCEJ pointed out that the scale of farmland ownership among metropolitan council members is very large. The council member with the largest farmland area is Choi Hoon-yeol of Jeonbuk Province, who personally owns 21 hectares of farmland in Buan, Jeonbuk, valued at 5.249 billion KRW.

According to CCEJ, local government heads own an average of 0.4 hectares of farmland per person, with metropolitan government heads owning an average of 0.5 hectares.

Comparing this to 2019 data, where 487,118 farming households, accounting for 48% of all farms, owned no arable land or less than 0.5 hectares, it is explained that public officials possess a considerable amount of farmland.

Additionally, there are an estimated 49 cases suspected of violating the Farmland Act, which stipulates that farmland acquired through inheritance without engaging in agricultural management can only be up to 1 hectare.

CCEJ stated, "Considering the demands for dedication to public office by local government heads and council members, a fundamental answer is needed on whether it is appropriate to concurrently engage in farming," and emphasized the need for policies such as prohibiting concurrent positions or restricting farmland ownership.

Furthermore, they called for thorough investigations into whether local government heads and council members have purchased farmland and violated the Farmland Act, as well as the establishment of a system that transparently tracks information related to farmland owned by public officials.

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