"Public Officials Involved in Real Estate Speculation Will Have to Cough Up 5 Times the Amount of Profits and Be Restricted from Employment in Relevant Agencies"

[경향신문]

Ministers Lower Their Heads: Hong Nam-ki, deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance bowed and apologized for the alleged land speculation by former and incumbent employees of the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) at the government office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the morning of March 7. From left is Kim Dae-ji, commissioner of the National Tax Service; Koo Yun-cheol, minister of the Office of Government Policy Coordination; Deputy Prime Minister Hong; Byeon Chang-heum, minister of land, infrastructure and transport; and Lee Jae-young, vice minister of the interior and safety. Kim Ki-nam

The government is promoting measures to have public officials and employees at public agencies who seek personal profits by taking advantage of inside information in connection to real estate development cough up up to five times the amount of profits they earn.

The government is also considering measures to oust public officials involved in real estate corruption and partially ban them from employment in relevant organizations and block them from obtaining licenses and permits in their respective industries.

The government announced that on March 7, Hong Nam-ki, deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance presided over a meeting of relevant ministers to review the real estate problem at the government office in Seoul and decided to prepare measures to prevent real estate corruption among civil servants from recurring including these details.

The latest measures focused on blocking public officials from engaging in land speculation and earning illegal profits and on drastically raising the level of punishment. The government recovering five times the profits earned from insider information is a clause from the current Capital Markets Act, which is applied in the securities market, and the government plans to apply the regulation in the real estate market as well. Civil servants caught engaging in speculation will be ousted immediately.

The government is also reviewing additional punishment for actions disturbing the four major markets, such as speculation using confidential or inside information. It will also introduce a real estate registration system, which will make it mandatory for public officials and employees at public agencies to report any changes to their real estate property.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea, the government and Cheongwadae held a private meeting at the prime minister’s official residence in Samcheong-dong, Seoul this day and agreed to investigate and thoroughly uncover any real estate owned by civil servants under assumed names. A senior official at the ruling party said over the phone, “Regardless of the results of the primary investigation, an investigation will be conducted immediately (by the National Office of Investigation).”