Jang Dong-hyuk: "They called the farmland survey a scare story, but now they are offering damage-control measures... They should apologize first"

[Financial News] People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk criticized the government and ruling party on the 22nd for announcing measures to reduce the burden on farmers resulting from a comprehensive farmland survey, saying, "They should apologize first for branding it a scare story."
Jang said on Facebook that day, "Only now have the government and ruling party come up with damage-control measures for the comprehensive farmland survey. They say they will ease compulsory enforcement measures and even create a special measures act."
At a high-level consultation the previous day, the government and ruling party agreed to pursue institutional improvements, including expanding opportunities for voluntary correction instead of uniformly imposing mandatory measures on violating farmland identified during a comprehensive survey of farmland use. They also plan to prepare a special measures act by the end of the year to temporarily legalize illegally converted farmland and amend the Farmland Act.
Referring to the ruling bloc's response when he first raised the issue of the comprehensive farmland survey, Jang claimed, "The Democratic Party of Korea attacked me, calling it a 'scare story' and demanding that I apologize for 'remarks distorting the facts.' President Lee Jae Myung even tried to divide the public by referring to us as 'opponents of reform.'"
"Farmland transactions came to a halt and land prices plunged after a single remark by President Lee Jae Myung. Farmers had to endure anxiety and anger for seven months," he said, adding, "Without our party's raising the issue, even these measures would not have been taken." The assertion that the halt in farmland transactions and the decline in land prices resulted from the president's remarks is Jang's claim.
Jang argued that the issue could not be resolved by the latest supplementary measures alone. He said, "This is not something that can be resolved by damage-control measures alone. We must first correct the president's distorted view of farmers as speculators."
He continued, "They act first, stonewall when problems arise, and make a shoddy fix when public anger explodes. That's this administration's routine." He claimed, "The root cause of the problem is ultimately President Lee Jae Myung."
Jang added, "The people must stop the president's reckless course. The country is on the verge of ruin."

[email protected] Kim Kyung-min Reporter