"Maximum Life Imprisonment for Land Speculation Using Work Information"... Law Amendment to Be Proposed

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] A legislative amendment is being proposed to prevent public officials in housing and land-related agencies from speculating on public housing sites using work-related information. The main content is to impose a maximum life sentence and confiscate fines amounting to 3 to 5 times the profits if speculation is conducted using insider information.

The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun), who first raised suspicions of real estate speculation by employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), announced a revision bill to the Special Act on Public Housing on the 8th together with Justice Party lawmaker Shim Sang-jung of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee.

The amendment focuses on Article 9 (Security Management and Measures to Prevent Real Estate Speculation) of the current Special Act on Public Housing and applies to public officials of local governments preparing or designating housing districts, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and employees of public housing institutions such as LH.

The amendment defines "undisclosed important information" as development information such as candidate sites under review for public housing projects, various plans for public housing projects, and information on construction and purchase of public housing. It also includes provisions to prohibit individuals with work history in related agencies from providing such information to third parties. It bans contracts to acquire land, buildings, or trust rights under one’s own name, spouse, direct ascendants or descendants, at least one sibling, or others using undisclosed important information. The same applies if the person later becomes aware that the information was undisclosed.

Penalties have also been significantly strengthened. Currently, involvement in real estate contracts using undisclosed important information can result in imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW. However, the amendment stipulates imprisonment of at least 1 year or fines amounting to 3 to 5 times the profits. If speculative profits exceed 500 million KRW, imprisonment of at least 3 years applies, and if profits exceed 5 billion KRW, life imprisonment or imprisonment of at least 5 years is imposed. Unlike the current law, which allows choosing either imprisonment or fines, the amendment explicitly permits both penalties to be imposed concurrently.