Inherited, Elderly Farmer, and Customary Lease Farmland Excluded from Disposal in Comprehensive Survey… “No Disposal Unless Speculation”

The government is pushing for the enactment of a special measure law to ensure that farmland will not be disposed of if it is not involved in speculation, in connection with the comprehensive farmland survey. This applies to cases such as inherited farmland being left idle or farmland being lent out due to advanced age. It is a transitional measure aimed at bringing long-standing customary practices of farmland use in rural areas within the legal framework and alleviating anxiety on the ground.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced “Follow-up Measures for the Farmland Survey and Directions for Institutional Reform” containing this content on the 8th.

Song Mi-ryeong, Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, stated in a briefing that day, “For general matters that are not speculation, we will work with the National Assembly to push for the enactment of a special measure law so that disposal procedures under the Farmland Act are not carried out based on the results of this survey.”

She added, “We will establish separate special provisions so that farmers who wish to do so can transition their farmland use to a lawful status during the validity period of the special measure law.”

Previously, at a government-party consultation meeting on the 21st of last month, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced the progress of the comprehensive farmland survey and future action plans, stating that it would push for the enactment of a special measure law within the year to remedy cases of Farmland Act violations not intended for speculation. This is because the current Farmland Act lacks grounds for deferring disposal or correcting violations after the fact.

The government decided to clearly state in the special measure law that inherited farmland, customary leases by elderly farmers, etc., will not be disposed of. This was done to specifically clarify disposal targets and exceptions as anxiety on the ground regarding the comprehensive farmland survey grew.

Song Mi-ryeong stated, “The basic direction is not to force disposal of farmland or impose enforcement fines due to the results of this survey if it is clearly not speculation, such as inheritance, advanced age, or customary leases.”

Accordingly, inherited farmland will not be subject to disposal on the grounds of this survey, even if it is not directly cultivated or exceeds ownership limits. Instead of disposal, it will be used as material for institutional improvement.

Cases where elderly farmers entrust farming to neighbors or relatives, or where farmers swap farmland with each other for cultivation, will also not be disposed of on the grounds that they do not meet lease permission requirements.

The same principle applies to clan associations, temples, and unregistered inherited farmland where formal lease contracts could not be made because there are many owners or some owners are difficult to locate. Farmland left idle because it is difficult to farm, such as landlocked plots without access roads or steep slopes, will also not be disposed of solely on the grounds that it has not been cultivated.

There are also plans not to demand demolition or restoration to original state solely on the grounds that agricultural warehouses, farmer housing, and simple agricultural product processing facilities installed without permission were identified in the survey.

On the other hand, clear speculation will be handled according to the current Farmland Act. However, disposal will not be immediate solely on suspicion of speculation; after giving owners sufficient opportunity to explain, the fact of violation will be confirmed before deciding on disposal.

The types of speculation presented by the government are three: △cases where farmland was acquired in a land transaction permit zone claiming to farm but then left idle or leased; △cases where agricultural corporations acquired farmland and instead of farming, subdivided it for sale or generated rental income; and △cases where false farming plans were submitted with the intent to resell, acquiring farmland shares through auctions, etc., and then leaving them idle or leasing them.

Buffer measures will be provided for farmers seeking to change their farmland use to a lawful status. Plans are being considered to grant special periods for legalization to bring them within the institutional framework. Regarding the specific special period, Song Mi-ryeong stated, “We are considering about 2 to 3 years.”

Representative cases include customary leases, unpermitted facilities, and updating land use designations to reflect reality. In cases where farmland has been lent out customarily, if a written contract is signed during the special period, it will be recognized as a lawful lease for the duration of the contract, even if it does not meet current lease permission requirements. When entrusting farmland to the Farmland Bank, those who previously farmed the land can also be designated as lessees.

For unpermitted facilities, if they meet the requirements of other laws and could have originally applied for conversion permits, etc., applications for permits will be allowed even at a later date. However, facilities prohibited in agricultural promotion zones or not permitted under other laws are excluded.

Non-agricultural facilities must pay farmland preservation fees. Plans are also being pushed to accept applications to adjust land use designations to match actual usage status for farmland that has long turned into forest, forest land used as farmland, graveyards, etc. Specific content will be included in the special measure law after consultation with the National Assembly.

Use of the Farmland Bank is left to the owner’s choice. Disposal procedures will not be carried out on the grounds that farmland was not entrusted, and the scope of purchase and entrustment will be expanded so that owners who wish to lend or sell their farmland can use it.

Currently, farmland in agricultural promotion zones that can be immediately cultivated is mainly purchased, but improvements will be made to allow purchases of non-promotion zone farmland if it can be utilized for agriculture. In addition to purchases based on individual applications, a method of purchasing and supplying farmland considering regional demand and farming efficiency will also be added.

To reduce the backlog of purchase waiting lists, budget increases for next year are being consulted with the National Assembly. Procedures that required visiting multiple institutional investors to submit documents will also be changed so that services of other institutional investors can be linked and processed at a single Farmland Bank location.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is pushing to propose the special measure law this month and complete National Assembly procedures by year-end. In the first half of next year, the Farmland Act will be amended to broaden reasons allowing leases and fallowing, and measures to protect actual cultivators and tenant farmers will be established. A farmland survey consultation center will operate starting on the 12th of this month.

On the ground, voices are emerging that since the special measure law is a transitional measure to alleviate farmer anxiety, broader measures are needed. It is pointed out that farmland issues should not be viewed in isolation but must be resolved together with structural changes across agriculture, such as retirement of elderly farmers and entry of young farmers.

Kim Hong-sang, [Title] at the Agricultural Policy Research Center, stated, “This is a necessary measure for now, but it is a transitional process measure for broader change,” adding, “Since issues with elderly farmers cannot be resolved overnight, farmland issues must be viewed in connection with support for old age and retirement.” He emphasized, “A medium- to long-term strategy and social consensus on how to operate the farmland system should be established based on farmland preservation and efficient use.”