Gyeonggi Province Launches Intensive Investigation to Eradicate Farmland Speculation

[Suwon Ilbo=Kim Gab-dong] Gyeonggi Province is affirming the principle of "land to the tiller" and launching intensive investigations in the first half of the year to normalize farmland use and eradicate farmland speculation.

This investigation comes in response to recent cases of farmland being used contrary to agricultural management purposes, such as idle farmland, illegal conversion, and acquisition for speculative purposes. As these issues have been addressed in government conferences, Gyeonggi Province is strengthening its farmland management system to align with the government's policy direction.

To this end, the province will mobilize all administrative resources including local governments, community leaders, and neighborhood chiefs to investigate agricultural management status, farmland acquisition certificates, farming plans, farmland ledgers, illegal leasing, farming records, agricultural material purchase history, agricultural product shipment details, agricultural companies, planned real estate schemes, illegal land transaction permits, direct payments, and conduct inquiries with village leaders and agricultural residents. The specific schedule and investigation methods will follow guidelines from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Additionally, the province will establish a joint investigation system involving the Agricultural Policy Division, Land Information Division, and Audit Committee to meticulously examine intelligent speculative activities that circumvent legal loopholes. When violations are confirmed, strict measures will be taken according to relevant regulations.

The Agricultural Policy Division will expand the scope of investigation targets from mandatory investigation subjects—including farmland owned by existing agricultural corporations, land transaction permit zones, foreign nationals and overseas nationals, those with farmland acquisition certificates issued within the past five years, out-of-province residents, and joint acquisitions—to all farmland in the province, conducting a 100% comprehensive survey. The province plans to eradicate speculative forces and promote normalization of farmland use by conducting special inspections of underperforming cities and counties and strengthening cross-inspections between municipalities to completely prevent regional favoritism, ensuring that "covering for one's own people" style investigations do not take hold.

The Land Information Division will conduct targeted investigations of illegal farmland in land transaction permit zones, including intelligent speculation schemes and false residential changes. The Audit Committee will focus on auditing underperforming cities and counties in the comprehensive farmland survey and investigate violations such as false issuance of farmland acquisition certificates.

In connection with this, Senior Vice Governor Kim Seong-jung visited an illegally abandoned farmland in Yongin on the 18th to check the status of farmland utilization.

Senior Vice Governor Kim Seong-jung stated, "As this is the first comprehensive survey and given the high development pressure in the Seoul metropolitan area, we will ensure thorough investigation. This investigation should not only result in illegal detection but also become an opportunity for actual farming operators to benefit."