President Lee Jae-myung said a nationwide audit of farmland is essential to curb speculation and ensure proper use of agricultural land, posting the message on X, formerly Twitter, while on a trip to the United States and Mexico. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized the plan, saying the president's "obsession with actual residence" had now extended to an "obsession with actual farming," as opposition figures continued to push back.
Writing on X on the 23rd local time while in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, Lee said the principle that farmland belongs to those who till it, and the government's efforts to uphold it, are mandated by the Constitution and therefore by the people. The post made clear he intends to carry out the farmland audit as written into law, despite mounting objections from opposition parties.
"The law set by the people and the National Assembly requires the forced sale of farmland bought after declaring an intent to farm, if it is instead left idle in anticipation of rising land prices or rented out illegally," he wrote. "If it is a law we do not intend to keep, it should either never have been made or should be repealed." He added: "Every government has avoided this because of resistance and backlash, but I will not avoid it."
He also urged against misreading the policy, noting that farmland left uncultivated because the owner has grown too old to farm, or land acquired through inheritance, is not covered. It was a restatement of his position that action will be taken under the law only where a clear speculative purpose is confirmed.
Opposition figures nonetheless criticized the approach, saying it treats people who fall outside the standard as potential speculators under the pretext of curbing speculation. In a Facebook post on the 27th titled "Mr. President, Stop Looking to the People for Your Next Target," Oh wrote that Lee's "obsession with actual residence" had now extended to an "obsession with actual farming." He called it "a policy that measures the complicated lives of the people against a single yardstick under the pretext of curbing speculation, and treats those who fall outside that standard as potential speculators."
Separately, at a meeting with Korean residents in Mexico on the 24th local time, Lee referred to the debate over repealing the National Security Act during the administration of former President Roh Moo-hyun while discussing reform efforts. "The governing and opposition parties had agreed to delete a few of the most objectionable provisions, but someone objected, saying it had to be repealed in its entirety," Lee said. "Because the other side opposed repeal, we could not even delete those provisions."
The remarks are read as directed at writer Rhyu Si-min, who at the time strongly argued for scrapping the National Security Act. Rhyu recently appeared on the YouTube channel of Media Today and bluntly criticized the president, saying he had deceived the public until now on prosecution reform.
