[Exclusive][Free Pass Farmland Qualification①] 98.27% Issuance Rate Over 5 Years... LH Land Speculation Was a Piece of Cake

Certificate of Eligibility for Farmland Acquisition 'Free Pass'
Inadequate Eligibility Review of Agricultural Management Plans
Approval Upon Application...Effectively No Qualification Required

(Source: Eunhye Kim, Member of the People Power Party)

[Asia Economy Reporters Koo Chae-eun, Kim Dong-pyo] It has been confirmed that the farmland acquisition qualification certificate, which came under scrutiny following the land speculation scandal involving employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and other public officials, was a ‘free pass’ certificate with an issuance rate close to 100%.

According to data exclusively obtained by Asia Economy on the 22nd through the office of Kim Eun-hye, a member of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the People Power Party, titled ‘Annual Application and Issuance Numbers of Gyeonggi Province Farmland Acquisition Qualification Certificates Over the Past Five Years,’ from 2017 to March 2021, the total number of applications for farmland acquisition qualification certificates in 48 cities and counties of Gyeonggi Province was 335,008, of which 329,215 were issued. This corresponds to an issuance rate of 98.27%, effectively close to 100%.

In particular, in many local governments, the issuance rate of farmland acquisition qualification certificates during this period was 100%. In Gapyeong-gun, Deogyang-gu in Goyang-si, Gunpo-si, Gimpo-si, Bucheon-si, Sangnok-gu in Ansan-si, Anyang-si, Osan-si, Icheon-si, Dongtan Branch Office of Hwaseong-si, and Hyangnam-eup of Hwaseong-si, there was not a single case of issuance refusal by the local government.

The farmland acquisition qualification certificate is a system that reviews the qualifications of those who purchase farmland, such as their agricultural management plans, and allows acquisition only to qualified individuals. However, as LH employees who engaged in land speculation owned farmland before the designation of new towns such as Gwangmyeong and Siheung despite not being qualified, the certificate issuance was merely a procedural formality that was granted immediately upon application.

Professor Sa Dong-cheon of the College of Law at Hongik University (President of the Korean Agricultural Law Association) pointed out, "Since the enactment of the Farmland Act in 1994, in reality, almost anyone has been able to acquire farmland," adding, "If it had shifted to an ex-post regulation system, post-management and control should have been implemented, but it appears that this function did not operate at all." Professor Shim Kyo-eon of Konkuk University’s Department of Real Estate stated, "The constitutional principle of ‘Gyeongja Yujeon’ (which aims to prevent speculative farmland ownership by non-farmers in Korea’s constitution) is effectively a dormant clause," and mentioned, "Overall improvements related to the Farmland Act are necessary."