[2021 National Audit] Domestic Citizens Face 'Gyeongja Yujeon' Restrictions... Foreigners Acquire Yeouido-Sized Farmland Over 5 Years

Over 3,500 Foreigners Issued Agricultural Land Acquisition Certificates in 5 Years

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] It has been pointed out that the constitutional principle of "Gyeongja Yujeon" (the right to cultivate land) strictly applied to nationals is not being properly enforced for foreigners. Amid the increasing scale of domestic real estate purchases by foreigners, it has been found that foreigners have acquired over 4 million square meters of farmland in the past five years. During the same period, authorities issued more than 3,500 Certificates of Qualification for Farmland Acquisition (Nongchwijung) to foreigners.

On the 20th, Joo Cheol-hyun, a member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee from the Democratic Party, revealed that 3,503 Nongchwijung certificates were issued to foreigners in the past five years. The farmland corresponding to the Nongchwijung issued to foreigners amounts to 5,493 parcels covering 410.3 hectares (4.103 km²). This is comparable in size to Yeouido (4.5 km²).

According to Representative Joo, the government has not properly grasped the status of farmland acquisition by foreigners. According to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the land owned by foreigners in Korea increased by 1,970 hectares over five years, from 23,360 hectares in 2016 to 25,330 hectares last year. As of last year, the publicly announced land value of all land owned by foreigners reached 31.4662 trillion KRW.

The problem is that there is no data classified by land category, making it impossible to accurately determine the scale of farmland owned by foreigners. Although it can be indirectly confirmed through the status of Nongchwijung issuance to foreigners, there are limitations such as not knowing ▲ how many of the issued Nongchwijung certificates actually led to acquisition ▲ how much of the acquired farmland is still held without disposal.

Representative Joo pointed out, "Since the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has secured the legal authority to request data, related data should be requested from relevant institutions such as the Ministry of Land and the Supreme Court to conduct a concurrent investigation and management of the farmland ownership status of foreigners." In this regard, on April 13, Article 54-2 of the Farmland Act was amended to legally guarantee the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs the right to request data such as resident registration and real estate registration electronic data from the heads of managing institutions for use in farmland-related policy formulation, as prescribed by Presidential Decree.

Since farmland is an essential public resource for national food supply and land environment preservation, even if a complete ban on farmland acquisition by foreigners is difficult, Representative Joo argues that the current system of issuing Nongchwijung under the same conditions and procedures as nationals has room for improvement. He emphasized, "As Article 121 of the Constitution proclaims the principle of Gyeongja Yujeon, establishing appropriately strengthened regulations for foreigners is not excessive discrimination," and "When issuing Nongchwijung to foreigners, a more stringent verification process regarding the feasibility of their farming plans should be established compared to nationals."

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