[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Were Reserve Soldiers Also Involved in LH Speculation?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] As investigations into land speculation by employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) regarding the 3rd phase new towns are underway, concerns are emerging that the military might also be involved.

According to the government on the 13th, there are currently a total of three retired military officers employed as expert advisors at LH. Mr. A, a retired brigadier general, served as the acting director of the Ministry of National Defense Facilities Headquarters, which oversees construction and land within the military during his active duty, and also served as the head of project management at the USFK Relocation Project Group. The USFK Relocation Project Group leads the construction of bases covering 14,677,000㎡ (4.44 million pyeong), which is five times the size of Yeouido.

Mr. B, a retired colonel from the engineering corps responsible for military facility construction, is a graduate of the Korea Military Academy and served as the head of logistics at the Intelligence Command before joining LH. Another retired lieutenant colonel from the engineering corps is a former member of the Defense Security Command.

The government joint special investigation team recently announced plans to examine whether there is any connection between LH and the military. It is possible that there was involvement during the negotiation process for the acquisition and compensation of military land included in public housing sites.

In July last year, the government announced plans to develop five sites in the Seoul area for housing. All these sites included military land and military facilities: Namtaeryeong military officers’ quarters (Namhyun-dong, Seoul), the Capital Defense Command site (Bondong, Seoul), Wirye military land (Changgok-dong, Seongnam), and the Seoul Regional Military Manpower Administration (Singil-dong, Seoul).

In 2018, there was a case where a military-affiliated individual exploited such information and was punished for leaking development information. Previously, Mr. D, a retired field-grade officer hired by LH as an expert advisor, caused controversy by passing LH’s ‘Goyang and Southeastern Region Development Plan’ to a real estate development company. The document contained location information about the Goyang Wonheung district, which was under consideration as a candidate site for the 3rd phase new towns at the time. Mr. D received the report from an LH official, photographed the plans, and passed them to the development company. It is known that Mr. D was recently sentenced to two years in prison with a three-year probation in the first trial.

Previously, LH was also criticized during a national audit for paying consulting fees to a retired lieutenant general who did not even provide consultation on military facility relocation. From April 2010 to March 2012, LH’s Wirye Project Headquarters paid a retired lieutenant general 7.5 million KRW per month, totaling 180 million KRW, under the name of consulting fees for military facility relocation. However, there was not a single actual consulting record.

Additionally, the New Town Planning Office selected a former Ministry of National Defense section chief as an advisory member and has paid 5.8 million KRW monthly since February 2008, totaling 240 million KRW. This, too, had no actual consulting records.

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