South Korea Plans Farmland Regularization After Nationwide Survey
The government plans a special law offering relief for customary or minor farmland violations while retaining strict penalties for speculation and serious illegal conversions.
South Korea plans to introduce a special law that would allow some unauthorized uses of farmland to be regularized, marking the first such legalization initiative in 38 years. The policy is designed to distinguish speculative or serious violations from customary practices and minor infractions that reflect changing conditions in rural communities.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs presented the plan at a ruling party-government consultation meeting on Monday. It follows the launch of the country’s first comprehensive nationwide farmland survey, which is examining ownership and land use through administrative records, aerial photography and field inspections. The survey began in May, while detailed on-site investigations have been under way since August. Final findings and formal enforcement procedures are not expected before 2027.
Under the proposed framework, authorities would continue to impose disposal orders on speculative holdings. Examples include farmland acquired with false cultivation plans, land illegally subleased after purchase, and property bought by agricultural corporations for real estate activities. Serious conversions of protected farmland into facilities such as campsites or outdoor storage yards would remain subject to restoration orders and other penalties.
The government would take a more flexible approach to non-speculative cases. Inherited farmland exceeding ownership limits, informally exchanged plots and land consolidated for cultivation by a single village farmer could be entrusted to the state-backed farmland bank. Doing so would defer disposal and allow existing cultivators to continue farming through formal lease arrangements.
Owners of fallow plots would first receive an opportunity to restore them to agricultural use. If elderly owners, heirs or former farmers cannot manage the land, they could transfer management rights to the farmland bank rather than face immediate forced disposal. The bank could then restore difficult plots, lease them to farmers or consider other appropriate uses.
Minor unauthorized conversions may also qualify for retroactive approval. Facilities completed before the survey began on May 18 could be legalized after payment of a farmland conservation levy, provided they comply with other laws and do not involve serious damage in agricultural promotion zones. Structures deliberately disguised as agricultural facilities while operating as restaurants, or sites used solely for solar generation, would not receive the same relief and would be required to correct their use.
The government aims to complete the special measures bill by the end of 2026 and implement it in the first quarter of 2027 after parliamentary approval. A broader revision of the Farmland Act is planned for the second quarter. Officials also want to expand the farmland bank’s role in acquiring, consolidating and leasing plots to young and full-time farmers. The approach seeks to preserve productive agricultural land while preventing routine rural practices from being treated in the same way as deliberate speculation.