Police: "Difficult to Consider Use of Internal Information"
3,790 People Targeted in Real Estate Speculation Investigation
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The police have decided not to prosecute former Blue House Policy Chief Kim Sang-jo, who was suspected of raising the jeonse deposit price using insider information.
According to the police on the 26th, the Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, which investigated the case, closed the case without prosecution against former Chief Kim. Nam Gu-jun, head of the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency, explained, "After reviewing the lease contract renewal process and testimonies of related parties regarding former Chief Kim, we judged it difficult to see it as using insider information and decided not to prosecute."
Former Chief Kim was suspected of raising the jeonse deposit price of his apartment in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, which he owned, by 14% two days before the implementation of the so-called ‘Lease 3 Acts’. The Judicial Examination Preparation Group filed a complaint against former Chief Kim at the end of March for violating the Anti-Corruption and Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act.
After receiving the complaint, the police assigned the case to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and conducted investigations including questioning the complainant and tenants in April. Subsequently, last month, they first investigated former Chief Kim’s wife, who is a co-owner of the house, and then completed the investigation of former Chief Kim.
When the suspicion arose, former Chief Kim expressed his intention to resign on March 29, saying, "I am deeply sorry for causing great disappointment to the public at a critical time when we must make every effort to eradicate real estate speculation," and President Moon Jae-in immediately accepted it. It was widely regarded as a de facto dismissal.
The police reportedly judged that it was difficult to apply the charge of violating the prohibition of using official secrets stipulated in the Anti-Corruption and Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act to former Chief Kim, considering that he and the tenant agreed to raise the jeonse deposit three months before the Lease 3 Acts were passed and that the lease contract was handled by his wife.
Meanwhile, the Government Joint Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Headquarters), which is investigating real estate speculation allegations, is conducting internal and external investigations on 855 cases involving 3,790 people as of this day. Among them, 1,327 people have been referred to the prosecution, and 40 have been detained. Additionally, pre-indictment seizure and confiscation orders amounting to 79.36 billion KRW have been approved.
Investigations are also ongoing for 23 current members of the National Assembly, among whom four have been decided not to be prosecuted or indicted. The members who were decided not to be prosecuted or indicted are known to be Yang Hyang-ja, Kim Kyung-man, Seo Young-seok, and Yoon Jae-gap of the Democratic Party of Korea.
Regarding Jeong Chan-min, a member of the People Power Party, who is suspected of granting special favors in permits during his tenure as mayor of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, the police’s two requests for arrest warrants were both rejected by the prosecution, and a re-examination is underway. Kim Kyung-hyup, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is involved in a controversy over failure to report land purchases, is reportedly coordinating a summons schedule.
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