Speculative Land Buying by LH Employees: Purchased 10-Billion-Won Worth of Land in the Gwangmyeong and Siheung Development Area

[경향신문]

Over a dozen employees at the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) allegedly purchased 5.7 acres (7,000 pyeong) of land worth 10 billion won before the government announced a plan to supply more housing in a new development area in Gwangmyeong and Siheung.

Lawyers for a Democratic Society and the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy held a press conference on March 2 and announced that they had received a tip that LH employees purchased land in this area for speculative purposes. After inspecting the land register, they confirmed circumstances suggesting that the LH employees split and purchased the land.

According to the civic groups, fourteen employees at LH and their spouses bought ten lots of land (23,028 square meters) in Gwarim-dong and Mujinae-dong in Siheung-si, Gyeonggi from April 2018 until June 2020. They purchased the land for nearly 10 billion won, and they took out loans estimated at 5.8 billion won from banks. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport selected the area in Gwangmyeong and Siheung for one of the third phase of new towns on February 24.

The land that the LH employees purchased was farmland, and if it is included in the development area, they can receive compensation in cash or substitute land for the expropriation. A number of the employees involved in the latest allegation reportedly oversaw compensation affairs at LH. If they purchased the land based on prior knowledge of the site for the new town, this is a violation of the Public Service Ethics Act. Lawyers for a Democratic Society has requested the Board of Audit and Inspection for an audit in the public interest concerning the latest allegation. Kim Tae-geun, head of the people’s livelihood and economic committee at Lawyers for a Democratic Society said, “It’s enough to make you believe that LH actually launched a pilot project on land compensation in new towns targeting its employees.”

The land ministry announced that if they discover any violations of the law, they would request an investigation or report and file a suit against those involved. A representative of LH said, “We are internally verifying the facts including any relevance with their tasks and their intention (in purchasing the land),” and added, “We plan to fully cooperate when the Board of Audit and Inspection or a relevant organization conducts an investigation.”