Jung Jeongsik: "Ruling Party Should Present Comprehensive Measures Including Suspension of Farmland Investigation, Not Patchwork Solutions"

Jeong Jeongsik, floor leader of the People Power Party, criticized the party-government's recent response measures for the agricultural land crisis on September 22, stating, "This administration's prescription is a case of dividing farmers by exploiting the 'speculation frame.' Instead of a makeshift solution, the government should present measures including a complete suspension of the comprehensive agricultural land survey."

Jeong Jeongsik, floor leader of the People Power Party, is delivering opening remarks at the "Policy Meeting on Improvement of Digital Asset Taxation System" held at the National Assembly on September 21, 2026. Photo by Dongju Yoon

At the floor leadership meeting held at the National Assembly that morning, Jeong said, "It is said that when a tree is transplanted, its roots suffer for three years. Instead of issuing half-baked measures after locking the stable door after the horse has bolted, the party-government should first offer farmers a sincere apology." He thus expressed his stance on the issue.

Jeong also stated, "This administration has been operating amateurishly, causing problems by rushing policies and then responding with patchwork solutions—what can be called an 'accident first, fix later' approach. For example, with the so-called Yellow Envelope Act and single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds, they have thrown disorder into the industrial field and the stock market before proposing any countermeasures."

Regarding the comprehensive agricultural land survey, he said, "After turning rural communities across the country upside down, they have now come up with yet another makeshift, lock-the-stable-after-the-horse-has-bolted prescription. In reality, land transactions in the field have already come to a halt and land prices have plummeted. Meanwhile, the president has labeled farmers as opponents of reform, claiming they were incited by speculative forces."

Jeong emphasized, "There needs to be tailored solutions that fit the circumstances of each region and each farmer, but the government has applied a single standard to all agricultural land, branding it as speculative. In mountainous areas, cultivation and disposal had been difficult even before the comprehensive survey, but the government indiscriminately approaches everything through the speculation frame, which is the real problem," he said.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.