[2026 Parliamentary Audit] Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee clashes over 'solar power'; audit briefly disrupted by placard protest

Opposition: "Was the comprehensive farmland survey meant to make way for solar power projects?"
Ruling party: "A means of increasing farmers' incomes... pursued under the Yoon administration"

As the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee held its parliamentary audit on October 7, the ruling and opposition parties clashed over the solar power project mentioned by President Lee Jaemyung. The opposition also staged a placard protest, briefly bringing the audit to a halt in the morning.

People Power Party lawmakers display a placard reading, “Drive out farmers, and all we get is solar power?” during a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee on the 7th. The session was briefly suspended after Democratic Party lawmakers demanded that the placard be removed, and the audit got underway in earnest once it was taken down. Yonhap News Agency

That day, the committee held its first parliamentary audit of the year, questioning the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and its affiliated agencies.

The ruling and opposition parties clashed over both a comprehensive survey of farmland and solar power projects. The opposition questioned whether the comprehensive farmland survey was intended to facilitate solar power projects, following President Lee’s remarks the previous day that converting farmland for solar power could generate several times more income than farming. The ruling party pushed back against the criticism. The audit was briefly disrupted in the morning after the People Power Party staged a placard protest over the issue.

As the audit began, People Power Party members of the committee displayed a placard in front of their seats reading, “Drive out farmers, and all we get is solar power?” Assemblyman Lee Sanghwi said, “Who would oppose solar power projects if farmers stood to benefit from them?” He added, “The point is that the process itself is questionable.” He also criticized the government, asking, “Was the comprehensive farmland survey ultimately conducted to make way for solar power projects?”

The Democratic Party, by contrast, countered that solar power projects on farmland were already being pursued. Assemblyman Yoon Junbyeong, the ruling party’s secretary on the committee, said, “The ruling and opposition parties have already agreed in the National Assembly to enact the agrivoltaics law.” He explained, “Solar power is one of the basic means of using farmland to increase farmers’ incomes.” Assemblyman Moon Daerim said, “The Yoon Sukyeol administration had already pursued temporary-use permits for agrivoltaics projects.”

The ruling and opposition parties also continued to debate the government’s comprehensive survey of farmland. In response to concerns, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Miryeong said, “We do not plan to impose penalties for the mostly ordinary, customary violations identified during the survey.” She added, “We will use this survey as an opportunity to bring unreasonable regulations in line with current realities and enable farmers to focus on farming with peace of mind.”

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