Perennial crops allowed on national land, breaking decades-old annual-only rule
Severe monsoon soil erosion drives landmark decision to protect watershed
Gangwon Province, Yanggu-gun, Korea Asset Management Corp. and environment agency join forces
The Punchbowl, a legendary Korean War battleground in Yanggu-gun, is set to see apple orchards planted on its predominantly state-owned land — breaking a long-standing regulation that had restricted farming there to annual crops only.
The decision was reached jointly by Gangwon Province, Yanggu-gun, the Wonju Regional Environmental Office and the Gangwon branch of the Korea Asset Management Corp.
The four agencies will sign a memorandum of understanding on reducing muddy runoff in Haean-myeon at the Punchbowl Comprehensive Welfare Center on Monday.
Haean-myeon in Yanggu-gun is one of the province's main highland farming areas, and the muddy water generated during heavy rains and the spring thaw has long affected local streams as well as the upper reaches of the Han River watershed.
Gangwon Province has installed runoff-reduction facilities and run community-based projects in the area since 2001. From 2027, it will launch a new crop-conversion program targeting state-owned land.
Haean-myeon is a territory recovered after the Korean War, and a large number of plots with no traceable owners were nationalized, leaving state land accounting for 35.8 percent of all cultivated land in the area.
State-owned plots had previously been restricted to annual crops such as cabbage and radish, partly because tenants were required to restore the land to its original condition upon vacating — a condition that made it impractical to plant perennial fruit trees such as apple.
Gangwon Province worked with the Korea Asset Management Corp. and other agencies to expand the range of crops permitted on state land to include perennial fruit trees.
Farms selected for the national subsidy program can lease state land in five-year increments by submitting a restoration performance bond, with contracts renewable for up to 25 years.
The agreement lays the practical groundwork for moving the crop-conversion program on state land forward.
Gangwon Province expects the deep root systems of apple trees and other perennial fruit crops to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality in the upper Soyang Lake watershed, support climate-adaptive farming and boost farm household incomes.
"Just as a deep-rooted tree holds the soil firm, I hope this agreement becomes the starting point for solving Haean-myeon's muddy-water problem from the roots up," said Yeo Jung-hyeop, administrative vice governor of Gangwon Province. "If residents participate actively, the rewards will come back to them in the form of cleaner water and higher farm incomes."
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