Government to boost farmland, state property surveys with AI and drones

The government plans to improve the accuracy and efficiency of its nationwide farmland survey and state property inspections through AI- and drone-based collaboration between agencies. The initiative calls for sharing drone footage, AI analysis technology and survey data across ministries to sharpen investigative precision and streamline administration.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced the collaboration plan Tuesday.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has been conducting a phased nationwide farmland survey since May 18 to root out farmland speculation that undermines the constitutional principle of "land to the tiller" and to establish a clear picture of actual farmland ownership and use. The survey covers a total of 1.95 million hectares, with priority given to 1.36 million hectares acquired after 1996, when the Farmland Act took effect. The remaining 590,000 hectares acquired before that date are scheduled for survey in 2027.

Under the collaboration, the Ministry of Economy and Finance will provide the agriculture ministry with AI-analyzed change-detection results comparing drone footage of farmland — gathered by the Korea Asset Management Corporation, or Kamco, during its recent four-year survey (2023–2026) of approximately 760,000 parcels of state-owned general property — against aerial photographs taken between 2023 and 2025.

The agriculture ministry will use the data to verify whether land lies fallow, has been illegally converted, had its designated use changed without authorization, or contains suspected illegal structures, thereby improving the accuracy of the nationwide farmland survey.

In turn, the agriculture ministry will provide the finance ministry, within this year, with drone footage covering state-owned land from among roughly 400,000 hectares of imagery captured by the Korea Rural Community Corporation — including 180,000 hectares across all of Gyeonggi Province and 220,000 hectares of suspected farmland nationwide. The finance ministry will use the footage to gain a more precise understanding of how state-owned farmland is being used, address unauthorized occupation and improve state property management and asset value.

The agriculture ministry will also share farmland registry data on state-owned farmland with the finance ministry. As a result, the finance ministry will be able to verify actual cultivation status directly through the data when renewing lease contracts for state-owned farmland, reducing the paperwork burden on the public.

Building on the collaboration, the Korea Asset Management Corporation and the Korea Rural Community Corporation plan to sign an MOU in early August to establish a sustained framework for sharing drone footage, AI technology and survey data. The two ministries also plan to link the Farmland Bank's direct farmland transaction platform with the OnBid system to broaden access to state-owned farmland lease information and help generate new rental demand.

Yun Won-seup, director general for agricultural policy at the agriculture ministry, said the ministry would ensure the nationwide farmland survey — including state-owned farmland — proceeds without gaps, backed by advanced technologies such as AI, drones and satellites, as well as inter-agency collaboration.

Ko Jong-an, director general for state property policy at the finance ministry, said the ministry would actively share the AI and drone technologies and survey experience accumulated during its state property inspections to support the farmland survey's success, and would continue to advance the state property management system through inter-agency collaboration using public data and digital technology.