Lee Yong-bin and Park Preliminary Candidates' Parents Accused of Land Speculation and Other Suspicions
Park Gyun-taek Immediately Releases Clarification Statement "False Information... Utterly Devastating"
Tensions are escalating between candidates ahead of the Democratic Party primary election in Gwangsan-gu (Gap), Gwangju Metropolitan City, where a two-person race including an incumbent lawmaker is taking place.
One prospective candidate raised allegations of violations of the Farmland Act concerning land owned by the opposing candidate’s parents, while the opposing candidate issued a clarification and announced plans for legal action.
From the left in the photo, Park Gyuntaek and Lee Yongbin, preliminary candidates for Gwangsan-gu (Gap), Gwangju.
The re-election campaign team of Lee Yong-bin released a statement on the 2nd, saying, “Among the land owned by the parents of prospective candidate Park Gyun-taek, the ‘jeon’ (dry field) and ‘dap’ (rice paddy) are scattered across Pyeong-dong in Gwangsan-gu, Gyelim-ri and Geum-dong-ri in Noan-myeon, Naju City, and Duwol-ri in Samseo-myeon, Jangseong County. The landowner, Park’s father, currently resides in Heukseok-dong,” adding, “If it is true that the parents are not actually farming the widely distributed ‘jeon’ and ‘dap,’ there is a high possibility that this violates the Farmland Act.”
They also stated, “The time when Park Gyun-taek’s father purchased the military forest land near the Eodeungsan Tourist Complex was in 2002. The Eodeungsan Tourist Complex development project was officially launched in June 2005, and at the time of the land purchase, information about the development project was already circulating among speculators,” and raised suspicion, saying, “According to real estate experts, considering the timing of the purchase, it is highly likely that this speculative land acquisition was based on development information that would have been difficult to know without the help of high-ranking public officials or speculative developers.”
They continued, “All the ‘jeon’ and ‘dap’ owned by Park’s father in Gwangsan-gu are located in development-restricted zones, yet Park Gyun-taek announced a pledge to lift development restrictions within a range three to five times larger than the villages designated as development-restricted zones,” and argued, “It is surprising that all the lands owned in Pyeong-dong meet the conditions to benefit from this development pledge. There is growing suspicion that the pledge to lift development restrictions is ultimately aimed at increasing the wealth of Park Gyun-taek’s family.”
In response, prospective candidate Park Gyun-taek immediately issued a clarification and refuted the claims point by point.
Park stated, “The ‘jeon’ and ‘dap’ owned by my parents were either land formerly owned by our clan or land acquired as substitute farmland due to development in the Hanam area,” adding, “Currently, my elderly parents find it difficult to farm directly, so the land is leased out, and rent is paid in harvested rice. The direct payment subsidies are received by the lessee, so there is no violation of the Farmland Act.”
He also said, “The forest land near Eodeungsan owned by my father (which is far from the tourist complex) was acquired after being expropriated by the Ministry of National Defense for use as an artillery firing range, which was later lifted and repurchased,” and dismissed the allegations, saying, “It is located on a mountainside and cannot benefit from the tourist complex development. Furthermore, the claim that there is ‘dap’ near the Pyeong-dong artillery firing range is a clear falsehood as such land never existed.”
He emphasized, “The land in question is either clan land or land for cultivation. Many of the lands are jointly owned by clan members as a measure to prevent the sale of land painstakingly cultivated by our ancestors, and this can be verified through land registry documents.”
He continued, “The reasonable adjustment of development-restricted zones (expanding within three to five times the existing residential area) has long been a longstanding wish of Gwangsan residents, and this pledge was completed through gathering opinions from residents of Pyeong-dong, Donggok, Samdo, and Bonryang,” and questioned, “The land in question is far from existing residential areas. Does the Lee Yong-bin camp, which raises land speculation allegations against a pledge that reflects the hopes of local residents, truly not wish for the development of Gwangsan-gu?”
He further stated, “Above all, I am deeply shocked by candidate Lee’s immorality and inhuman behavior in using my elderly parents as tools in political strife,” and added, “Although we are currently competitors, I once regarded him as a colleague with whom I would jointly oppose the Yoon Seok-yeol administration in the future. I cannot hide my disappointment and despair in the face of political scheming and a melodramatic scandal.”
He said, “The Lee Yong-bin camp has continuously made unfair and baseless accusations and personal attacks against me, but as a member of the same Democratic Party, I have restrained myself and endured for the sake of winning the general election,” adding, “However, I have now judged that it is difficult to maintain an attitude of tolerance and forgiveness.”
He concluded, “We will take strict legal action against those who distributed press releases containing false information,” and added, “If it is revealed that the person who ordered such actions is candidate Lee Yong-bin, he should take responsibility in politics and declare his retirement.”
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