[Editorial] As the First Comprehensive Farmland Survey Begins, Root Out Land Speculation by Public Officials First

The government plans to carry out, for the first time, a full-scale survey of all farmland owners across the country. On January 24, President Lee Jae Myung ordered officials to consider a comprehensive survey, noting that farmland itself was becoming a target of speculation. This new initiative follows that directive. The survey aims to identify illegal cases in which people bought farmland purely for speculative purposes, with no intention of actually cultivating it.
Authorities already conduct annual checks on farmland use, but they cover only about 10% of all plots. From 2019 to 2023, a total of 7,722 people were ordered to dispose of their farmland, averaging more than 1,500 people per year. The farmland subject to these disposal orders is more than three times the size of Yeouido, which shows just how widespread illegal ownership has been.
A representative case of speculative buying of farmland with development potential is the 2021 scandal involving employees of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH). LH employees who had access to development information purchased and held farmland in hopes of reaping capital gains. It is only natural that the government should track down this kind of farmland speculation and take legal action in accordance with the relevant laws.
As has already been revealed, far more speculation has been carried out not by ordinary citizens, but by public officials and employees of public corporations who are in positions where they can access or extract development information. No one knows how much illegal speculation has taken place on farmland around areas where large-scale development projects have been pursued. In that sense, this comprehensive survey is overdue. The government should not postpone such a necessary task simply because it is costly.
Through this survey, the government must thoroughly expose who is engaging in farmland speculation and in which regions, and then impose appropriate sanctions. In particular, if public officials are found to have engaged in speculative activities, those involved must be dealt with sternly, including personnel measures.
Recently, large-scale development projects have been launched, including the creation of a major semiconductor industrial complex in southern Gyeonggi Province. Land prices in nearby areas are said to have risen sharply. In addition to this region, there are many other areas where new towns, airports, roads, and other infrastructure are being built. Authorities must thoroughly investigate and uncover speculation not only in the greater Seoul area but also at development sites in other regions.
Land speculation has long been called a disease that can ruin a nation. As the old terms "ttotta-bang" and "bokbuin" suggest, real estate speculation has produced overnight millionaires and has been a major driver of widening inequality. The problem is that leading figures in society, including public officials and politicians, have often been at the forefront of speculation in apartments and land. Everyone knows that while the authorities criminalized speculation for ordinary citizens, the elite openly engaged in illegal practices themselves.
This farmland survey must become a turning point for eradicating real estate speculation once and for all. The comprehensive survey should not be a one-off event; it must be conducted regularly so that people do not even dare to dream of speculative gains. Speculation in farmland, apartments, and other real estate has been one of the biggest causes of widening wealth gaps and deepening divisions between social classes. The government should approach this comprehensive survey with the determination that stamping out speculation is the top policy priority for achieving social justice.