Gangwon Province Announces First Investigation Results on 'Public Officials' Real Estate Speculation Allegations'
Provincial Audit Committee Chair, "Plan to Request Investigation on Suspected Violations of Current Laws"
[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] It has been investigated that some public officials in Gangwon Province own real estate in station area development zones such as the Dongseo High-Speed Railway and surrounding satellite cities.
Gangwon Province announced on the 19th, "As a result of investigating the Dongseo High-Speed Railway station areas and surrounding satellite cities, 85 public officials (9 from the province, 76 from cities and counties) owned 156 parcels of real estate."
They added, "Provincial officials (8 current, 1 retired) owned 16 parcels, and city and county officials (59 current, 17 retired) owned 140 parcels."
In relation to the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) real estate speculation allegations, the province formed a special task force from the 15th of last month to check for real estate speculation using insider information, and began receiving reports and conducting investigations into speculation suspicions.
The investigation targeted areas within 1 km around the Chuncheon Thermal Energy District, whose development plan was recently confirmed, as well as the Dongseo High-Speed Railway station areas and satellite cities (Sokcho, Hwacheon, Yanggu, Inje, Yangyang, Goseong).
The first phase of the investigation identified land ownership status up to 2014 in suspected speculation areas, and from 2016 for five years, acquisition tax payment data was used to identify public officials, combined with on-site inspections.
Land ownership totaled 20,935 parcels (Chuncheon 1,643; Sokcho 4,335; Hwacheon 2,887; Yanggu 3,772; Inje 3,559; Goseong 3,263; Yangyang 1,476), and acquisition tax payers numbered 29,876 (including duplicates).
Additionally, a total of seven reports were received anonymously through the Public Official Corruption Anonymous Reporting Center and by mail (3 in Yanggu station area, 2 in Yangyang Naksando Provincial Park, 1 on Hoengseong road, 1 on the provincial office relocation site).
There were also some reports outside the suspected speculation areas and similar allegations of "speculation in certain areas."
Aseungdam, Chairman of the Provincial Audit Committee, stated, "Based on the results of the first investigation, by the end of April, we plan to analyze the acquisition circumstances such as sales of land-owning public officials, investigate land usage status, and identify their departments to examine whether insider information was used." He added, "If violations of current laws or suspicious cases are found, we will request an investigation."
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