Lee Jae-myung, governor of Gyeonggi Province and the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is attending and responding at the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit of Gyeonggi Province on the 20th.
[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, stated that Gyeonggi Province is conducting an audit regarding the enormous illegal profits gained by the family of People Power Party’s presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol through a development project in the Gongheung District of Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, calling it a "clear illegal administration." He also added that the development project is almost at a "lawless level."
On the 20th, during the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee’s audit of Gyeonggi Province held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office in Suwon, Lee responded to a question from Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sang-hyuk asking, "In cases like the Gongheung District in Yangpyeong, where the implementation plan has a set expiration date, are there instances where the plan is illegally continued despite the expiration?" Lee said, "There is a concept of time limits in administrative law and legal studies," adding, "For example, food has an expiration date at the end of December, and once it passes, it is no longer valid. Extending the expiration date into January is nonsensical. Since this issue was pointed out at the audit the day before yesterday, we have instructed our audit office to conduct an investigation, which is currently underway."
Lee particularly criticized, "If the legal procedures have naturally expired, the Yangpyeong County Governor cannot retroactively approve it," and added, "This is illegal administration, and in my view, it is almost like lawlessness."
Earlier, lawmaker Park Sang-hyuk explained, "Currently, a company called ESI&D, which is the family company of Yoon Seok-yeol’s wife, is carrying out the Gongheung District development project. Looking at the company structure, Yoon’s brother-in-law holds 30% of the shares, Yoon’s mother-in-law holds 20%, Yoon’s sister-in-law holds 20%, and Yoon’s wife, Kim Geon-hee, is registered as an inside director."
He continued, "In August 2011, ESI&D, the family company of Yoon’s wife, proposed the designation of the urban development zone to Yangpyeong County, and a month later, received a notification of expropriation from Yangpyeong County," raising suspicions by noting, "At that time, the approval for the LH rental housing project nearby was canceled, which was completely contrary to this situation."
He especially pointed out, "In November 2012, the implementation plan for the Gongheung area urban development was approved and announced, and the project was supposed to be completed by November 2014, two years later," adding, "The problem is that Yoon’s wife’s family company was supposed to adhere to the project plan until November 2014 but failed to do so, yet the project continued illegally afterward."
Park further explained, "Then something strange happened here," saying, "After the project expired in November 2014, the illegal continuation lasted for one year and eight months, until June 2016, when Kim Seon-gyo, then Yangpyeong County Governor and currently a People Power Party member in Yoon’s campaign, suddenly changed the Gongheung District urban development plan from November 2014 to July 2016 through a revision announcement."
Park claimed this was to retroactively approve the project.
He also stated, "Regarding this special favor, there is a reasonable suspicion that Kim Seon-gyo, who was the county governor at the time, and Yoon Seok-yeol, who served as the head of the Yeoju branch office, had some sort of relationship," noting, "In fact, Yoon was the head of the Yeoju branch office from 2013 to 2014, while Kim Seon-gyo was the county governor."
Park added, "Yoon’s mother-in-law, Choi, purchased 5,900 pyeong of land in the Gongheung-ri area of Yangpyeong County starting in 2006, and among this, 900 pyeong of farmland was claimed to be farmed by herself with a certificate of farmland qualification submitted, but these promises were not kept later," and further said, "She purchased additional farmland and promised to buy farming equipment and farm the land, but since these promises were not fulfilled, there is a possibility of violating the Farmland Act."
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