The South Korean government will launch a nationwide farmland audit from Tuesday, mobilizing artificial intelligence, satellites and drones to verify whether registered owners are also the actual cultivators of the land.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Monday it will work with local governments over the next two years to investigate farmland ownership, cultivation and use, and to build a comprehensive database. This year's audit will target farmland acquired since January 1996, when the Farmland Act took effect. The government will conduct a basic survey through July 31, followed by in-depth investigations of suspect parcels from August to December.
The basic survey will cross-check farmland registers, public-interest direct payment records, agricultural management entity data, agricultural input purchase histories and records of local government subsidy receipts. The data will be used to identify violations of ownership limits by inherited or transferred farmland and by agricultural corporations, general corporations and other organizations, as well as to verify whether owners actually cultivate the land and whether leased farmland is properly registered and entrusted to the Farmland Bank.
Illegal structures and long-idle farmland are also subject to the audit. The ministry will use aerial and satellite imagery, building registers and AI-based detection data to identify structures built on farmland, and will pilot a fallow-land identification technology that draws on satellite information from the Rural Development Administration.
The government will also operate a special enforcement period for farmland leases. While encouraging written lease contracts and entrustment to the Farmland Bank, the ministry will run a tenant farmer protection hotline to address cases in which lease contracts are unilaterally terminated to evade the audit. Farmland reported through the hotline will be classified for in-depth investigation, and tenants whose contracts have been terminated will be given priority access to farmland leased through the Farmland Bank.
The in-depth investigation will focus on land transaction permission zones, all areas of the greater Seoul region, farmland acquired through auctions, land owned by agricultural corporations and foreigners, parcels acquired or jointly owned within the past 10 years, and farmland previously flagged for violations. Where illegal leasing is suspected, on-site checks will be supplemented by interviews conducted with the cooperation of farmland committee members and village heads.
"The nationwide farmland audit goes beyond simply assessing the situation. It is the first step toward eradicating farmland speculation and building a data-driven, systematic farmland policy," said Yoon Won-seup, director general for agricultural policy at the ministry.
