[Free Pass Farmland Qualification⑧] Investigation Launched into Fraudulent Farming Corporations... 27% Increase in 4 Years

Investigation and Inquiry into Over 80 Agricultural Corporations in Gyeonggi Southern Province
Acquisition of Farmland Qualifications with Faulty Farming Plans
27% Increase in Farmland Qualification Acquisition under Corporate Names in 4 Years

[Asia Economy Reporters Koo Chae-eun, Kim Dong-pyo] As the police investigate land speculation allegations that began with the 'Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) scandal,' they have recently launched an investigation into about 80 fake farming corporations in the southern Gyeonggi region. Meanwhile, it has been revealed that the total number of farmland acquisition qualification certificates issued to corporations across Gyeonggi Province over the past five years reached 29,198.

According to data titled 'Number of Applications and Issuances of Farmland Acquisition Qualification Certificates by Year in Gyeonggi Province over the Past Five Years,' obtained by Kim Eun-hye, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from Gyeonggi Province on the 24th, the number of farmland acquisition qualification certificates issued in the name of corporations in 48 cities and counties of Gyeonggi Province from 2017 to March 2021 totaled 29,198.

The number of farmland acquisition certificates issued in corporate names steadily increased from 5,932 in 2017 to 7,218 in 2018, 6,365 in 2019, and 7,556 in 2020. In the first three months of this year alone, a total of 2,127 certificates were issued. The number of certificates issued in corporate names last year (7,556) increased by 27% compared to four years ago (5,932 in 2017).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Experts predict that the increase in the issuance of farmland acquisition qualification certificates in corporate names does not necessarily indicate a rise in corporations genuinely operating for agricultural management purposes. While the corporatization of agricultural entities has some influence, it is largely interpreted that the increase in planned real estate corporations for 'farmland speculation' exploiting the lax farmland acquisition qualification certificates?issued indiscriminately upon application without thorough screening?is the main factor.

Attorney Lim Young-hwan stated, "Currently, agricultural corporations can have up to 90% of their investment from non-farmers, so many people who do not farm acquire farmland indirectly through corporations," adding, "Farmland has been used as a means of real estate speculation through planned real estate companies." Professor Sa Dong-cheon of Hongik University Law School said, "The farmland acquisition qualification certificate essentially requires farmland procurement plans and farming plans, but the entry fields are too simple and all are just plans, making it difficult to screen based on those criteria," and added, "In reality, certificates have been issued as long as applications were submitted."

According to the current Farmland Act, agricultural corporations should be established and operated for the purposes of agricultural management, distribution, processing, and sales of agricultural products, but it is pointed out that many cases do not meet these criteria.

The Special Investigation Unit for Real Estate Speculation Crimes of the Southern Gyeonggi Police Agency, which is conducting investigations into the LH scandal, is reported to have uncovered more than 80 so-called 'fake farming corporations' that obtained farmland acquisition qualification certificates by submitting false agricultural management plans and then made hundreds of billions of won in profits by splitting shares and reselling farmland purchased at low prices.