Song Mi-ryeong, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said that the farmland system needs to be adjusted to suit reality, but that there is no need to revise the Constitution, which includes 'Gyeongyujeon' (the principle that people who farm should own farmland).
Minister Song said in an interview with Yonhap News, “The spirit of oil production is to prevent speculation and use farmland for food security,” and added, “It is difficult to say that that principle is wrong.”
The interview with Minister Song was conducted at Ieum, a Korean food culture space in Jaedong, Jongno-gu, immediately after attending an event hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in commemoration of the 2nd 'Animal Protection Day' in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul on the 2nd.
Our Constitution clearly states the principle of land ownership and at the same time provides exceptions that allow for the lease and consignment management of farmland.
However, recently, with the government's first-ever complete farmland survey, arguments were raised that the Constitution should be revised as this principle limits the exercise of property rights in a free market economy and does not reflect realities such as the aging of the rural population.
Regarding this, Minister Song explained, "The literal translation of 'Gyeongyujeon' means that those who farm must have a rice field, but the spirit of the Constitution is to allow exceptional provisions in accordance with that principle. The Farmland Act contains those exceptions."
In particular, when Minister Song was asked whether the results of this farmland survey could be the basis for constitutional revision, he said, "There is no need to go to the extent of constitutional revision," and drew the line, "It is a matter of changing the Farmland Act to fit the times."
The purpose is to change the principle of ownership-centered farming, which is somewhat far from reality, to one centered on use and management by revising the Farmland Act on the ownership, use, lease, and diversion of farmland.
Minister Song emphasized that the government plans to revise the Farmland Act within the first half of next year to reflect the reality of rural areas, and for this purpose, a complete survey of farmland is essential.
Minister Song said, "Since the Farmland Act was implemented in 1996, our farmland information has not been clearly organized. The starting point of the investigation is to collect fragmented information and fill in the missing information to create a basic database on farmland."
He continued, “Now, there are fewer people to farm, and they are older. There is more land available for farming, and more inheritances have occurred,” and emphasized, “If there is a system that does not match reality in the changed reality, it must be changed, and the 30-year-old system must be reformed.”
In this situation, regarding the controversy surrounding the farmland acquisition investigation, he pointed out, "The frame of 'the country is taking the land' has emerged by cutting back and forth and only highlighting the ratio of farmland suspected of violation and regulations related to enforcement fees."
Regarding this, Minister Song expressed his disappointment several times, calling it “fake news” and “kadera communication.”
As a result of the basic farmland survey announced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in late July, approximately 27% of farmland acquired after 1996 was identified as suspected of violating the Farmland Act, such as illegal leasing or unauthorized fallowing, and Nongshim was shaken as the revised Farmland Act, which strengthened the disposal order system for farmland not used for farming, was implemented in late August.
In the end, on the 21st of last month, the party and government announced a supplementary measure stating that customary violations that occur in rural areas are not subject to uniform disposition and that they will provide an opportunity for normalization and cultivation for a sufficient period of time through the enactment of a special measures law within the year.
Minister Song explained, "It will not be enough to rely on principles alone. This is based on the judgment that we need to talk about tangible things in detail," adding, "The idea is to exclude and postpone disposal through the Special Measures Act and improve the farmland system in line with reality."
The special assistance law will be proposed by the Democratic Party of Korea early next month after a debate, and is scheduled to be enacted within the year.
On the other hand, the government regards ▲ unauthorized use of farmland and illegal leasing after false acquisition of farmland in a land transaction permit zone ▲ real estate business by agricultural corporations ▲ unauthorized use of land and illegal leasing after joint acquisition through auctions etc. ▲ illegal use of non-agricultural facilities restricted from being installed in agricultural promotion areas or facilities prohibited by other laws as speculation and takes strict action.
Minister Song predicted, “If general and customary violations in the field are eliminated through an in-depth investigation of farmland, and only speculation is filtered out, the number of cases of violations of the Farmland Act will be greatly reduced.”
Minister Song also acknowledged that the government's explanation of Nongshim's unrest and on-site confusion surrounding the farmland survey was not sufficient from the beginning.
He said, "I think the confusion could have been reduced if we had taken enough time from the beginning to explain that we would conduct a thorough investigation for this purpose. However, there is also the aspect of giving time in advance to those who hold farmland for bad purposes to get out, so it is like two sides of the same coin."
He continued, "President Lee Jae-myung asked us to explain the government's purpose of conducting a comprehensive survey of farmland kindly, in detail, and continuously. We organized about 70 bureau and department heads into regional managers in groups of one or two, and visited cities and counties across the country before Chuseok to explain the purpose of the policy. We are also considering regional briefing sessions in the future."
