Sejong City Opens and Operates Real Estate Speculation Tip 'Hotline'... Sejong Police Also Launch Internal Investigation

Prefabricated houses rapidly emerging in the Wachon-ri area of Yeonseo-myeon, Sejong City. Source=Yonhap News

[Asia Economy (Sejong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Sejong City has opened and is operating a hotline to receive reports of real estate speculation.

The city announced on the 12th that it will conduct a self-investigation into real estate speculation on land around Wachon-ri, Yeonseo-myeon, while simultaneously establishing and operating a Public Interest Reporting Center.

The Yeonseo-myeon area (3.3 million㎡) was selected as a candidate site for a national industrial complex in 2018 and was designated as a land transaction permission zone in September of the same year. Compensation is scheduled to begin next year.

However, several months before the designation as a land transaction permission zone, prefabricated panel houses (commonly called "beehives") had already begun to be built on the site, and saplings were systematically planted in various locations.

Additionally, between January and August 2018, the number of land transactions, which had been sparse until then, surged to over 7,000 cases. This is a point where speculative activities based on insider information prior to the designation as a national industrial complex are suspected.

In response, the city recently formed a dedicated task force (TF) led by Deputy Mayor Ryu Im-cheol to investigate whether actual speculative activities took place on the Yeonseo-myeon national industrial complex site. The task force will operate in collaboration with related departments such as the City Audit Committee and the Land Information Division.

The Public Interest Reporting Center will serve as a channel for receiving reports of suspected real estate speculation separate from the self-investigation. The reporting targets include facts or suspicions that public officials themselves or their direct relatives purchased real estate under borrowed names within the Yeonseo-myeon national industrial complex site from June 2017 to August 2018.

The city plans to operate the Public Interest Reporting Center within the City Hall Land Information Division until the special investigation into real estate speculation is completed.

In particular, if the reported content involves matters requiring police investigation such as borrowed-name transactions, unregistered resale, or insider information use, or if the subject of the real estate speculation investigation is a retired public official, the city plans to request an investigation from the relevant police station.

Currently, the Sejong Police have received data from the city regarding ownership changes and land transaction permit applications for land in Yeonseo-myeon from March to September 2018, and on the 10th, they began a full-scale preliminary investigation into suspected speculation.

Im Dong-hyun, head of the City Land Information Division, said, "We ask for active reporting from citizens," and added, "The city will thoroughly investigate whether real estate speculation occurred in the Yeonseo-myeon area based on the self-investigation and public reports."

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