"3rd New Town Security Kept Thrilling" Kim Hyun-mi's Past Remark Becomes Ridiculed

Former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Joo-hee] Amid allegations of land speculation by employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), a remark made by then Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi in 2019, claiming that security was well maintained during discussions on the 3rd New Town candidate sites, has become a target of ridicule among netizens.

As suspicions of speculation by LH employees have surfaced, there are criticisms that only the minister in charge was unaware of the facts and was self-congratulatory.

Previously, the government first announced the designation of the 3rd New Town in September 2018. In an interview with a media outlet at the time, Minister Kim said, "We had already decided on the locations, but the media couldn't guess any of them. Watching that was very surprising and thrilling," adding, "About 250 people knew about it before the New Town announcement, but security was well maintained until just before. I am surprised myself."

Now that it has been confirmed that LH employees purchased land in the planned New Town areas, citizens are recalling and criticizing former Minister Kim's past remarks.

Among netizens, responses mocking Minister Kim's statement poured in, such as "It must have been thrilling because they secretly took everything for themselves," and "So it meant it was thrilling because they deceived the people."

Meanwhile, on the 11th, the government announced that the first investigation by the joint investigation team confirmed a total of 20 suspected cases of speculation. In addition to the 13 employees initially reported by civic groups as suspected speculators, 7 more were newly identified.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun stated regarding this, "A second investigation will be conducted targeting relevant officials in Gyeonggi, Incheon, and basic local governments, as well as all employees of local public enterprises," emphasizing, "We will devote all efforts to conducting speculation investigations, establishing measures to eradicate speculation, and preparing countermeasures to prevent recurrence with the determination to wage war against real estate crimes."

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