NAMYANGJU — The city of Namyangju in Gyeonggi Province has formally asked the National Assembly to take account of local conditions and realities on the ground when it moves to revise farmland rules following a nationwide farmland audit. The city said the aim is to crack down on speculative farmland ownership while preventing cases in which farmers who actually till the land suffer unintended harm from unreasonable regulations.
Namyangju Mayor Choi Hyun-duk delivered a letter under his name laying out the proposals to 19 members of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee on the 15th, the city said on the 19th.
In the letter, the city proposed four key changes aimed at managing farmland more efficiently and reasonably while protecting farmers' rights and interests.
The main requests are easing the standards for installing facilities that support farm work within greenbelt zones; setting reasonable criteria for farmland owned by Korean nationals inside land transaction permit zones designated for foreign buyers; suspending administrative penalties on farmland within areas slated for public works projects; and easing rules on ancillary facilities for care farming and experiential farms. The proposals focus on removing the regulatory constraints and disadvantages that farmers encounter in the course of actual cultivation.
The city said it will maintain a firm response to farmland acquired for speculative purposes and to clear illegal activity, but that piecemeal regulations that ignore regional characteristics and conditions on the ground should be improved.
"Speculative use of farmland and illegal activity must be strictly policed, but law-abiding farmers should not be penalized because of unreasonable rules," Choi said. "We will keep communicating with the National Assembly and the relevant ministries so that local conditions and the voices of farmers are fully reflected in the coming special act and in the revision of the Farmland Act."