President Lee Jae-myung on Thursday ordered a comprehensive inspection of all farmland nationwide that is not being actively farmed, directing authorities to pursue compliance orders and forced sales.
"The source of all problems in this country is real estate," Lee said during a Cabinet meeting at the Blue House. "We need to review tax, regulatory, and financial measures for farmland as well."
The president criticized the current state of farmland management, saying the government is "committing unconstitutional acts despite the Constitution stipulating that farmland belongs to those who cultivate it."
Lee pointed to cases where individuals acquire farmland claiming they will farm it but leave it idle. "Land purchased for farming is subject to sale orders if not cultivated, yet there has never been an actual case of such disposal," he said. "Everything goes up just because it's land."
He added that when people "plant something superficially and abandon it," authorities should issue sale orders, but failure to enforce rules has led people to believe "you just need to buy farmland and pretend to farm."
The president called for mobilizing large-scale personnel if necessary to conduct a complete survey. He directed that idle farmland purchased under the pretense of farming face forced sale orders, with penalties followed by mandatory sales if compliance orders are ignored.
"Unless we make people feel that holding farmland for speculation or investment is pointless, normal development of our society is impossible," Lee said.
He also noted that high land prices in rural areas are preventing people from relocating to the countryside, calling for research into minimizing costs for those seeking to return to farming.