[Exclusive] Government Launches First-Ever Nationwide Farmland Survey... MOIS Vice Minister's Mother Faces Allegations of Farmland Act Violation

[Financial News] As the Lee Jae Myung administration launches the first nationwide comprehensive survey of farmland in South Korean history, farmland owned by the mother of Kim Min-jae, vice minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS), was found to be lying fallow and was reportedly determined by the relevant local government to violate the Farmland Act.
According to documents the office of Kang Myung-gu, a People Power Party lawmaker on the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, received from Hongcheon County on the 6th, farmland at 200-1 Haoan-ri, Hongcheon-eup, Hongcheon County, Gangwon Province, owned by Kim's mother, is currently lying fallow. Hongcheon County determined that the farmland violates the Farmland Act.
The plot covers 1,398 square meters, or approximately 423 pyeong, and was acquired through a purchase on December 11, 1996, for the purpose of agricultural management. Its use is listed as "self-cultivated" in the farmland register.
The farmland was also reported as being owned by his mother in the property disclosures Kim Min-jae submitted last March through the Government Public Service Ethics Committee. Its declared value was 46,274,000 won.
Hongcheon County stated in additional documents that cultivation of the land had been confirmed through 2024, while it had not determined whether the land was cultivated after 2025.
The Farmland Act stipulates that farmland must be disposed of when the head of the relevant local government determines that its owner is not using it for personal agricultural management without a legitimate reason. According to documents Hongcheon County submitted to the lawmaker's office, farmland found to violate the Farmland Act may be placed under a one-year obligation to dispose of it following procedures such as a hearing. If the land is diligently cultivated during that period, the disposal order may be deferred. The obligation is extinguished if the land is then used for agricultural management for three years.
However, if the disposal obligation is not fulfilled, an order may be issued to dispose of the farmland within six months. Failure to comply with that disposal order may result in a compulsory enforcement charge.
An MOIS official explained, "Kim's mother has continuously cultivated the farmland for about 30 years, growing perilla, soybeans, and corn. Plot 200-1 is farmland near a ditch, and we understand that only certain areas where the butterbur greens being grown had died were treated as fallow."
The official added, "Kim's side recently learned that some of the farmland in Hongcheon County owned by his mother had been classified as fallow. They have explained the matter to the eup office and requested a correction so that the actual use status can be reflected."
The case came to light as the Lee Jae Myung administration launched a sweeping investigation into farmland nationwide under the principle that those who farm the land should own it.
In February, President Lee ordered a comprehensive survey of farmland that had been acquired on the promise of farming but subsequently left idle. He instructed officials to consider deploying large numbers of personnel if necessary and even ordering the sale of land that had been purchased for farming but left unused.
Accordingly, the government began the first nationwide comprehensive survey of farmland, covering 1,954,000 hectares over two years from this year through next year. This year, it plans to examine 1,150,000 hectares acquired after the Farmland Act took effect in 1996, followed by 800,000 hectares acquired before the law took effect next year.
President Lee recently reiterated his commitment to the nationwide farmland survey. On the 24th of last month, he said, "A comprehensive farmland survey is essential to prevent farmland speculation and ensure that farmland is properly used. All previous governments avoided it because of resistance and opposition, but I will not avoid it." Cases in which people acquire farmland by declaring that they will farm it, then wait for land prices to rise without actually farming or illegally lease the land, have also been raised as an issue.

[email protected] Kim Ye-ji Reporter