President Lee Jae Myung tried in vain to appease disgruntled farmers who remain suspicious of the administration’s motives behind the nationwide farmland survey. Korea’s potential accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has further complicated reconciliation efforts. Joining the trade pact is important for Korea’s outward-looking economy, but doing so could come at a cost to farmers. Monday’s town hall meeting was unproductive, if not an outright failure. Lee remained indecisive about the CPTPP, while his explanation of the farmland survey was evasive. He even attempted to deflect responsibility for the controversial policy, suggesting that a confrontation with farmers may be inevitable. Farmers take the survey seriously, viewing it as a direct threat to their livelihoods. They fear they could be ordered to sell their land against their will. The Lee administration’s farmland survey has become one of its most controversial policies, deepening the decline in the president’s approval ratings. The survey itself is not contro