Critics decry Lee Jae-myung’s solar push as risky repurposing of farmland and a boon to alleged cartels
President Lee Jae-myung said at a Cabinet meeting on the 6th, “I’m saying this as a bit of promotion,” and added, “Farming solar power brings in several times more income than ordinary farming.” He also said, “(But local governments) didn’t grant permits, and I was asked to pull some strings.”
What the president calls “solar farming” means that farmers build solar power facilities on their own farmland or fallow land to produce electricity and make money from power generation revenue instead of crop harvests. Weighing farm income, there is virtually little left for farmers, so the idea is to boldly repurpose the land for the solar business.
Earlier, at a Cabinet meeting on the 29th, the president also said, “If the transmission and distribution network is properly laid, solar farming will be a way to make a living.” He added, “Farming solar power by using farmland and returning to farming or rural villages to farm both seem likely to become trends soon.”
At a Cabinet meeting on Feb. 24, he said, “With the countryside emptying out, if we find institutional fixes one way or another, doing solar power on idle fields (fields overgrown with weeds) and road slopes and selling (the electricity) would be far better than most farming.”
He emphasized “agrivoltaics” when serving as Seongnam mayor and Gyeonggi governor, but now the focus appears to have shifted to using fallow land and idle fields.
◇ “Solar power, a plan to prepare for the energy transition and prevent regional extinction”
The president’s remarks appear to reflect the view that with national power supplies running short, solar can serve as an alternative energy source and that revenue from solar farming can become a new income stream for the aging farm sector.
In fact, the comments poured out after Minister Song Mi-ryung of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs reported that “after basic income payments, populations in 10 counties increased by around 5%.”
The president explained the intent, saying, “The reason I’m planning this (solar farming) is to prepare for a major shift to a renewable energy society and because we need fundamental measures to stop regional extinction.”
He went on, “There’s land, but to start a solar business you need ‘my own money.’ Couldn’t (the government) support this money through a fund? The government needs to clearly present this roadmap.”
◇ Opposition bloc criticizes: “Farmland prices have plummeted while the president does marketing”
In politics, some note that given the “solar power corruption” controversy during the Moon Jae-in administration, the president’s use of the word promotion while personally highlighting a specific project could become a political burden.
The lead ministry, the Agriculture Ministry, for its part appears wary that farmland could be reduced to solar sites. According to data obtained by the office of People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jong-bae, the ministry presented the position that “when farmland is included in the process of introducing renewable energy, the principle is to introduce ‘agrivoltaics’ premised on farming activity.”
The opposition linked the president’s remarks on expanding solar farming with a “comprehensive farmland survey” and criticized them.
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok wrote on Facebook that day, “Farmland prices nationwide have plunged due to the comprehensive farmland survey. Now the ‘left-wing solar cartel’s’ hunt for farmland will begin.”
He added, “They will blanket the plundered farmland with ‘Chinese-made solar panels,'” and said, “The comprehensive farmland survey is ultimately to set the stage for China and the left.”
Park Su-min, a lawmaker from the same party, also said at the National Assembly’s Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment audit the previous day, “Because of the fallout from the farmland survey, farmland prices nationwide have plummeted and farmers are in tears, yet the president personally went out and did solar marketing.”
Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon also said on Facebook on the 1st, “After labeling farmers as a ‘force of criticism and agitation,’ now they’re telling them to blanket farmland with solar power, saying it ‘leaves several times more’ than traditional farming,” adding, “It’s outrageous to push farmers into ventures that are hard to manage afterward.”

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