12 Employees from MOLIT and LH Refuse 'Personal Data Use' for Speculation Investigation (Comprehensive)

1 Person from Ministry of Land, 11 from LH Refuse Personal Data Use
Without Consent Form Submission, Land Transaction Investigation Difficult
Byun Chang-heum Repeatedly Apologizes That Day..."No Tolerance Punishment"

Minister Byeon Chang-heum of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is bowing in greeting before giving a briefing at the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee plenary meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 9th. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] During the investigation by the government joint investigation team into allegations of land speculation related to the 3rd phase new towns by public officials, it was revealed that a total of 12 employees from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) refused to consent to the use of personal information for the purpose of verifying real estate transaction records.

According to the government on the 10th, MOLIT and LH collected consent forms for the use of personal information from all employees by the previous day. The investigation team extracts transaction records by querying the names and resident registration numbers of public officials in the real estate management system, which requires the consent of the subjects for the use of their personal information.

In the case of MOLIT, out of a total of 4,509 employees, 4,508 consented and 1 did not. Initially, two employees who were excluded due to overseas dispatch or overseas stay did not consent to the use of personal information, but it is known that one of them submitted the consent form on that day.

LH had 9,839 employees in total, of whom 9,799 (99.6%) consented and 40 did not. Among the 40, four were overseas residents, 22 were in military service, and three had resigned; the reasons for refusal to consent by the remaining 11 were not clearly identified.

Thirteen LH employees suspected of speculating with over 10 billion KRW in the sixth 3rd phase new town, Gwangmyeong-Siheung district, have submitted their consent forms.

A government official explained, "We are verifying the circumstances of those who have not submitted consent forms and are continuing to persuade them to provide consent."

The government joint investigation team plans to announce the first investigation results on the 3rd phase new town speculation allegations targeting MOLIT and LH employees within this week.

Afterward, the joint investigation team will transfer these results to the National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters and begin the second investigation. The second investigation will include not only public officials but also their direct relatives.

The investigation team received consent forms for providing information on spouses and direct relatives of MOLIT and LH employees by the 10th and will start the investigation. Consent forms from local governments and local public corporations will be collected by next week.

However, concerns have been raised that if the employees and their families do not consent to the use of personal information, it will be difficult to verify transaction records, potentially reducing the effectiveness of the investigation.

Although only 12 individuals among MOLIT and LH employees refused consent, the number of refusals is expected to increase as the investigation expands to spouses and direct ascendants and descendants.

In fact, inside and outside MOLIT, voices have emerged that it is unfair to uniformly require consent for personal information use when there are no allegations of speculation.

At an emergency briefing to the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on the same day, MOLIT Minister Byeon Chang-heum stated in his closing remarks, "To restore public trust, we will investigate speculation allegations more strictly than ever," and emphasized, "We will punish speculators with a zero-tolerance policy."

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