Establishment of Vice Minister's Direct 'Budongsan Bulbeophaengwi Daeeungban'... Focused Investigation on Housing Price Collusion

Korea Appraisal Board Establishes 40-Member 'Real Transaction Permanent Investigation Team'
Government Takes Full Action to Crack Down on Illegal Real Estate Activities and Speculation
Focus on House Price Collusion Investigation... Plans Joint Investigation with Local Governments

(Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] A 'Real Estate Market Illegal Activities Response Team' will be newly established under the direct supervision of the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to intensively investigate various illegal activities related to real estate.

Additionally, a 'Permanent Real Transaction Investigation Team' consisting of 40 members will be set up at the Korea Appraisal Board. This is seen as the government taking full-scale action to eradicate real estate speculation.

On the 4th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held a joint briefing with related agencies including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Financial Services Commission, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Financial Supervisory Service, and Korea Appraisal Board, announcing, "We plan to establish the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's 'Real Estate Market Illegal Activities Response Team,' which will be responsible for direct investigations of various illegal real estate activities, by the 21st of this month."

Currently, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has six 'Special Judicial Police Officers for the Real Estate Sector' assigned, but since these officers also hold policy-related positions concurrently, it has been difficult to focus on intensive investigations of illegal activities.

A Ministry official explained, "To thoroughly eradicate illegal real estate activities that seriously disrupt the real estate market order, such as price collusion and illegal resale, direct criminal investigation activities are necessary; therefore, the response team will be established directly under the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry."

The 'Real Estate Market Illegal Activities Response Team' will serve as the 'control tower' for real transaction investigations and investigations of illegal real estate activities nationwide. While important illegal cases will be investigated directly, joint investigations will also be conducted with approximately 480 special judicial police officers deployed across 17 cities and provinces as needed.

The Ministry is expected to focus primarily on monitoring price collusion. Although various collusion activities between homeowners trying to raise asking prices and real estate agents attempting to lower prices to increase transaction frequency have occurred in major areas of Seoul, there were no enforcement regulations to punish them. However, from the 21st, such acts will be subject to imprisonment of up to three years or fines of up to 30 million KRW.

Furthermore, from the 21st, the Korea Appraisal Board will establish a 'Permanent Real Transaction Investigation Team' dedicated solely to real transaction investigation tasks to systematically support the 'Real Estate Market Illegal Activities Response Team.'

Currently, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, National Tax Service, Financial Services Commission, and Seoul Metropolitan Government are conducting a 'Joint Investigation of Real Transactions in the Seoul Area,' but the joint investigation team consists only of personnel responsible for their original duties, making rapid review of abnormal transactions difficult.

The permanent investigation team will be composed of the headquarters and about 30 branches, enabling rapid investigations nationwide.

The Ministry emphasized, "With the establishment of a team dedicated solely to reviewing supporting documents and conducting real transaction investigations, we plan to shorten the investigation period for abnormal transactions to about one month through swift and thorough investigative work."

Nam Young-woo, Director of the Land Policy Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and head of the joint investigation team, explained, "From the 21st, together with related agencies such as the National Tax Service and Financial Services Commission, we will conduct more intensive and continuous systematic and broad investigations into detailed funding sources. At the same time, we will strengthen the investigation system for illegal real estate activities and continue comprehensive efforts to protect genuine buyers and eradicate real estate speculation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.