Special Investigation Headquarters Concludes No Charges Against Lee Hae-chan in Opposition's Real Estate Investigation Request... Statute of Limitations Expired

3,903 People Under Internal and External Investigation for Real Estate Speculation Allegations

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The government joint special investigation headquarters (Special Investigation Headquarters), which is investigating allegations of real estate speculation, has confirmed that it has closed the case against former Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Hae-chan without indictment.

A Special Investigation Headquarters official stated on the 5th, "Among the 23 members of the National Assembly under investigation, one more person’s investigation has been concluded, bringing the total to five concluded cases so far."

Previously, the Special Investigation Headquarters had decided not to indict or prosecute four lawmakers: Kim Kyung-man, Seo Young-seok, and Yoon Jae-gap of the Democratic Party of Korea, and independent lawmaker Yang Hyang-ja. The newly closed case without indictment is confirmed to be former leader Lee Hae-chan.

The Special Investigation Headquarters initiated a preliminary investigation into former leader Lee’s alleged violation of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission Act based on a request from the People Power Party. However, considering that the statute of limitations had expired and the land purchase occurred after the development, the case was closed without indictment at the end of last month.

Meanwhile, as of the day before, the Special Investigation Headquarters has conducted investigations and preliminary investigations on a total of 865 cases involving 3,903 individuals. Among them, 1,432 people have been referred to the prosecution, and 41 have been detained.

By status, there are 120 high-ranking public officials, 112 government officials, and 84 LH employees. The high-ranking public officials include 23 members of the National Assembly, 68 local council members, 15 heads of local governments, 12 senior officials of grade 3 or higher, and 2 LH executives.

The Special Investigation Headquarters plans to continue investigations into illegal real estate activities such as fraudulent subscription and speculative real estate in the second half of the year. Yoo Jae-sung, the Special Investigation Headquarters’ public relations officer (Police Agency Forensic Investigation Manager), said, "There are 33 police stations in charge of large-scale public housing supply areas in the second half of the year. Including existing teams, we have reorganized into 40 focused investigation teams with 238 personnel. Since there are ongoing investigations, we intend to proceed swiftly."