[GB Release 50,000 Households] "Prevention of Speculation through Detection of Suspicious Illegal Transactions and Designation of Toheoje"

Full Investigation on Public Officials' Speculation Using Non-Public Information
Park Sang-woo "Priority Supply to Young Generation at Reasonable Prices"

On the 5th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced four new housing site districts with a scale of 50,000 households and stated that it will thoroughly implement the four major anti-speculation measures: 'prevention, detection, punishment, and recovery.'

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

First, the Ministry checked for speculation by public officials using undisclosed development information. As a result of a full survey of land ownership within the announced districts targeting all employees of the Ministry and project proposers, as well as their direct relatives related to the work, it was found that one employee of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) owns land within the candidate sites.

However, this employee acquired the land by gift in February 2010, so it was judged that the possibility of speculation using undisclosed development information during this housing site discovery process is low. The Ministry plans to secure objectivity and continue verification through a committee involving external participants after the announcement.

Among 5,335 transactions in the four districts and nearby areas over the past five years (October 2019 to October 2024), 1,752 suspicious transactions were also selected. These include transactions involving minors, outsiders, corporate purchases, frequent ownership changes, and those suspected to be planned real estate.

The Ministry plans to conduct a detailed analysis of the funding sources of suspicious transactions through requests for explanatory materials and detect illegal suspicious transactions such as false reporting of transaction prices, disguised gifts or loans, and name trusts. By March next year, it will notify related agencies such as the National Tax Service, Financial Services Commission, and relevant local governments, and request investigations from the National Police Agency.

Additionally, the Ministry will immediately designate the relevant districts and surrounding areas as land transaction permission zones to preemptively block speculative land transactions. Development activities will also be restricted immediately upon public notice of opinions from residents and others. In such cases, activities such as building or structure installation, landform alteration, soil and rock excavation, land division or merger, and planting are prohibited.

On the same day, the Ministry announced the selection of four new housing site candidates supplying a total of 50,000 households: Seoripul District in Seocho-gu, Seoul (20,000 households), Daegok Station Area District in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi (9,000 households), Ojeonwangok District in Uiwang-si (14,000 households), and Yonghyeon District in Uijeongbu-si (7,000 households). These are areas where the Greenbelt (development restriction zone) has been lifted, aiming for district designation in the first half of 2026 and the first sale in 2029. An additional 30,000 households of new housing sites will be announced in the first half of next year.

Park Sang-woo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "Since lifting the Greenbelt is unavoidable to establish a stable housing supply foundation for future generations, we will prioritize supplying housing at reasonable prices to the younger generation in cooperation with Seoul City, Gyeonggi Province, and others," and added, "We will continue to strive to ensure that sufficient quality housing is supplied where there is demand."