"'Only a superficial investigation' and treating the public like fools"… Yoon Hee-sook fiercely criticizes the 'LH land speculation' investigation announcement

Yoon Hee-sook, member of the People Power Party./Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] On the 11th, Yoon Heesook, a member of the People Power Party, fiercely criticized Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun's announcement of the first joint investigation results regarding the speculation allegations against Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), saying, "They think the public is stupid."

In a post on her Facebook immediately after the government's announcement, Rep. Yoon said, "The announcement was at a level that did not properly verify even the already raised suspicions," and criticized, "It seemed to create a sense of urgency, but suddenly declared a war against real estate crimes, leaving viewers bewildered."

Earlier, Prime Minister Chung announced the first investigation results of the government joint investigation team regarding the speculation allegations of LH employees on new town sites at the Government Seoul Office.

Prime Minister Chung stated, "Including the suspected speculation cases raised by Minbyun (Lawyers for a Democratic Society) and the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a total of 20 suspected speculators were identified," and added, "Land transactions were mainly concentrated in the Gwangmyeong Siheung district, and suspected speculation cases were also found in other 3rd new town districts."

This investigation was conducted by obtaining consent forms for information provision from about 14,000 employees of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and LH, and investigating transaction details and ownership information through the real estate transaction system and the national land information system, respectively, and cross-checking them.

Prime Minister Chung continued, "The government declares war on real estate crimes," and added, "We will prepare and strongly enforce special measures to strictly punish illegal and unfair acts committed in the real estate market, such as false listings, planned real estate, and fly-by-night operators."

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun is answering questions after announcing the results of the first full-scale investigation into allegations of speculative investment in new towns by employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 11th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

In response, Rep. Yoon said, "This is a 'nominal investigation' that has not even investigated transactions through acquaintances or under false names, nor the records of spouses," and pointed out, "The core of the current investigation is just one thing: 'How extensive and by whom was the malicious corruption that took private gain using official information in the course of duty,' so why suddenly bring up fly-by-night operators?"

She continued, "I have repeatedly pointed out that even if you conduct a full investigation by names, you cannot know the real speculation that escaped under false names, so you must immediately and extensively investigate 'profitable land and the flow of money,'" and raised her voice in criticism, saying, "Please stop meaningless shows that only buy time for speculators to destroy evidence."

Rep. Yoon emphasized, "Do the Prime Minister and the ruling party leader think that if they just throw out anything and everything, the public's anger will be diluted and lose direction? Do they think the public is stupid? Properly investigating the exact points where crimes occurred is how to properly wage war," and added, "Focus on the criminals who parasitize power, abuse official information, and betray landowners narrowly and the public broadly."

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