PPP visits farmland, warns comprehensive probe must stop

People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok and other party leaders visited farmland in North Chungcheong Province on Wednesday to criticize the government's ongoing comprehensive farmland investigation, raising concerns that data compiled from the probe could enable what they called "farmland hunting" once the survey is complete.

Jang met with farmers in Yongdu-dong, Chungju, to hear their views on the investigation before attending a forum on the probe. He was joined by policy committee chairwoman Im Yi-ja, Chungju lawmaker Lee Jong-bae, organization vice chairman Kang Myeong-gu and Yeouido Institute director Jo Seung-hwan.

The group toured a rice-farming site in Yongdu-dong that morning before meeting with local farmers. One farmer who leases his land told Jang that farming yields no profit, adding that those without machinery end up spending any subsidies they receive on equipment.

Jang said in response that the government's actions only added to farmers' worries when there was nothing left over to begin with, and pledged to seek alternative solutions.

Moving to a nearby forum venue, Jang said the president was "incomprehensibly and excessively fixated" on the comprehensive farmland investigation. "The stated rationale is to crack down on speculation," he said. "But who would come all the way out here to speculate on farmland?"

Jang predicted that land prices would continue to fall once the current investigation concludes and enforcement fines begin to be imposed. "If the comprehensive farmland probe identifies all land not under cultivation and levies enforcement fines, what happens next?" he said. "That land will have to be sold off, and prices will keep falling."

Beyond falling land prices, Jang also raised the specter of "farmland hunting." "If the government helpfully compiles data on every piece of farmland across the country, farmland hunting becomes possible," he said. "Someone with a specific purpose in mind could keep buying up land at bargain prices by offering just a little more than what the farmland bank would pay in cash."

He went on to question why a blanket survey of all farmland — including plots with no realistic prospect of speculation — was necessary in the name of curbing speculation. "This amounts to stripping away sovereignty over farmland and soil," he said. "Food security and food sovereignty are at risk of being taken away as well."

Policy committee chairwoman Im said that while farmland speculation must be stopped, "farmers who have spent their entire lives farming must not be treated as speculators just because we want to stop the actual speculators."

Im also pressed the government, saying a stopgap measure aimed at quickly placating angry farmers and dodging a crisis would not be acceptable.

Farmers at the scene also expressed anxiety over the prospect of falling farmland prices. Lee Mun-su, chairman of the Chungju Agricultural Organizations Federation, said that buying a tractor requires taking out a loan secured against farmland. If land prices drop, lenders demand more collateral. "People without land cannot put up the collateral, and refinancing becomes difficult — it just keeps repeating as a vicious cycle," he said. A tractor costs around 100 million won ($72,000), he noted.

Another farmer offered a word of advice, saying he hoped agriculture would not be used for political purposes.

Speaking to reporters after the forum, Jang said that if farmers cannot understand why the investigation is being conducted or who it serves at this point in time, "there is no other way to see it than as a probe being pushed through with political intent." He called for an immediate halt to the investigation, saying the government should listen carefully to public opinion, redesign the policy from scratch and then proceed — adding that it was not too late to do so.

Asked about the planned street rally on Saturday, Jang said the party was planning the event on National Foundation Day to explain to the public what had gone wrong and to outline how it intended to fight during the national audit. On the possibility of a prolonged campaign, he said the party would review further steps as the national audit progresses and circumstances develop.