조선의 ‘토지개혁’, 종이쪽 위에 그친 까닭은 [.txt]

During the Joseon Dynasty, famine struck Korea roughly every three to four years due to droughts and floods. When famine hit, people migrated in search of food and often became beggars or bandits. The royal court tried to feed the migrants and send them back to their homes, but they refused. The royal court's solution, known as the "Settlement of Flowing People (流民還集)," suggested that people in prosperous rural communities could survive and thrive, even in times of famine and drought.

These people were called self-sufficient farmers. Meanwhile, the majority of the population were tenant farmers or small-time farmers without land. Under the 'Tenant Farmer Law (限民名田議)', tenant farmers had to give up 70% of their produce to landlords and the government. When famine struck, they had no choice but to sell their land or become bonded servants to landlords.

To prevent people from leaving their land, solutions were proposed, such as dividing a minimal amount of land equally among the farmers, which came to be known as the 'Perpetual Estate (永業田)' or 'Guaranteed Land (영업전)'. The idea that everyone should have an equal share of land, regardless of how much they currently own, is called the 'Equitable Land Theory (均田論)'.

However, despite these ideas, none of them were ever implemented. The reformers were merely writing their ideas down on paper and sharing them, never attempting to put them into practice. This was because they were all part of the landowning elite, who had no incentive to give up their land.