"Flawed Land and Housing System Worsens Situation... Improvement Needed"

Minbyun Holds Urgent Forum on Institutional Improvement Measures

On the 11th, at the Lawyer Education and Culture Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, Lawyer Seongmin Seo is presenting on the topic of the progress and legal evaluation following reports of speculative investments by LH employees and other public officials at an urgent discussion hosted by the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun) on the legal evaluation of speculative investment suspicions by LH employees and other public officials and institutional improvement measures. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Seongpil Cho, Daehyun Kim] The speculation allegations involving the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) have raised concerns that the current land and housing-related regulations are inadequate, exacerbating the situation. Since the 1960s, when urban development began in earnest, various regulatory systems for land transactions and usage have been established, but there are calls for improvements to better prevent speculation. The Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun), who raised the LH speculation allegations, also expressed the need to revise the current related regulations.

At an emergency forum titled "Legal Evaluation and Institutional Improvement Measures for Speculation Allegations by LH Employees and Public Officials," held on the morning of the 11th at the Lawyer Education and Culture Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, lawyer Kanghoon Lee, who presented at the event, stated, "The recent public outrage over speculation allegations involving LH employees raises questions about whether the current systems are effectively functioning to prevent speculation from an institutional perspective," adding, "Institutional improvements are necessary to prevent land speculation by public officials." Specifically, Lee argued that improvements are needed in the current ▲Special Act on Public Housing district designation system ▲Prohibition of misuse of confidential information under the Anti-Corruption Act ▲and farmland acquisition regulations.

Article 9 of the current Special Act on Public Housing stipulates that anyone who uses information obtained during official duties for purposes other than intended or passes it to others shall be punished by imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW. Lee pointed out, "The restriction that the information must be obtained during official duties makes it difficult to detect violations by public institutions and significantly limits the scope of punishable cases in practice," and suggested, "The scope should be expanded to include 'non-public important information'?information related to work that is not disclosed to the general public during employment."

He also supported the argument that acquiring real estate using such non-public important information in the name of oneself, spouse, direct ascendants or descendants, at least one sibling, or others should be prohibited and punishable. Furthermore, he advocated for stronger penalties. Unlike the current law, which allows choosing between imprisonment or fines for speculative profits exceeding 500 million KRW (approximately 500 million KRW) with imprisonment of three years or more, and for profits exceeding 5 billion KRW, life imprisonment or imprisonment of five years or more, he argued that both penalties should be imposed concurrently.

Regarding the current land compensation system, Lee suggested, "Compensation should be based not on the publicly announced land price closest to the business recognition announcement date but on the price from three years prior." This is to prevent speculation based on anticipated designation of public land development districts. He also diagnosed that the recent LH speculation allegations exploited loopholes in farmland acquisition regulations. Although farmland under the Farmland Act is principally restricted to those who farm it, there are too many 'exceptions.' He said, "The issuance of green land acquisition qualification certificates should be more strictly limited, and post-management strengthened," adding, "The standards for ownership and management under the Farmland Act should be more rigorously established and the law revised accordingly."

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