Prosecutors Transfer Investigation of 'Baekhyeon-dong Apartment Development Favoritism Allegations' to Police

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency will take charge of investigating the 'suspicions surrounding the apartment development project in Baekhyeon-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province,' which has raised issues such as land use changes.

According to the legal community on the 12th, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch recently transferred the case to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency. Charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (breach of trust in the course of duty) were also applied.

The prosecution is known to have transferred the case considering that the police were already investigating the preferential treatment suspicions related to the Baekhyeon-dong project.

Earlier, on the 25th of last month, the Board of Audit and Inspection requested an investigation into these suspicions from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. After receiving a public interest audit request in May last year and conducting an on-site audit in January, it was judged that there was a need to investigate criminal charges related to the Baekhyeon-dong apartment development project. The Board of Audit and Inspection reportedly focused on whether Seongnam-si violated laws in connection with the preferential treatment suspicions regarding the Baekhyeon-dong project. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office, having received the request, assigned the case to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch on the 28th of last month.

The Baekhyeon-dong apartment complex consists of 15 buildings with 1,223 households and began occupancy in June last year. The 111,265㎡ site was owned by the Korea Food Research Institute, which relocated to Wanju-gun, Jeonbuk Province, and was sold to a real estate development company, Asia Developer, in February 2015. Subsequently, the land use was changed from a natural green area to a quasi-residential area.

Initially, all units were planned as private rental housing, but in November 2015, the private rental units were reduced to 123 households, which is 10% of the total, while sale units increased significantly to 1,110 households, sparking controversy over preferential treatment.

The nonprofit organization Seongnam Future Policy Forum filed a public interest audit request, stating, "Seongnam-si changed the land use from natural green area to quasi-residential area and was promoting rental housing but suddenly switched to general sales." The People Power Party also claimed, "During the 2006 Seongnam mayoral election, Kim In-seop, the campaign headquarters chief for candidate Lee Jae-myung, was recruited by Asia Developer in January 2015, after which the project rapidly progressed. Kim played a certain role in the land use change process and pocketed 7 billion won."