Citizens' auditors including lawyers to participate in Gyeonggi-do real estate speculation full-scale investigation

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province is promoting the participation of 'citizen auditors' to enhance the reliability of its own full-scale investigation regarding the speculation allegations involving employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH).

Currently, the Gyeonggi Provincial Audit Office has 67 experts from various fields, including lawyers, accountants, social workers, construction experts, education specialists, and civic group activists, working to realize transparent audit administration.

The province expects that if citizen auditors participate in this full-scale investigation, they can actively utilize their expertise during the investigation process and detect illegal or improper matters from the public's perspective, thereby deriving improvement measures.

Citizen auditors will be responsible for roles such as collecting opinions on the speculation allegations, selecting suspected speculators and investigating the illegality of their actions, and conducting on-site investigations in the finally selected suspected speculation areas.

As a result of checking the willingness of citizen auditors to participate in the full-scale investigation, more than 50 out of 67 expressed active willingness to participate, the province said.

Kim Jong-gu, the General Audit Officer of the province, explained, "Citizen auditors have greatly helped improve residents' inconveniences and detect improper administration based on their professional knowledge and passion in various specific audits," adding, "We believe that the active role of citizen auditors will greatly help secure transparency and fairness in this speculation status investigation as well."

Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi Province full-scale investigation team, currently conducting a full-scale investigation into real estate speculation, has selected a total of 1,517 people as investigation targets, including 848 employees of Gyeonggi Provincial Government and 723 employees of Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Corporation (GH), and is currently collecting consent forms for personal information.

To expedite the investigation, the province plans to verify land ownership and transaction details in new town development districts of the subjects simultaneously with the submission of consent forms.

The 1,571 people include all current and former employees (including retirees) of the Gyeonggi Province Urban Housing Office, Gyeonggi Free Economic Zone Authority, and GH since 2013, as well as their families.

The family scope includes not only the direct ascendants and descendants of the employee but also siblings, the direct ascendants and descendants of the spouse, and their siblings.

Since the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and other government joint investigation teams are currently investigating the 3rd new town development districts, the province will first conduct a full-scale investigation on six development districts led by Gyeonggi Province and GH. These six districts include Gyeonggi Yongin Platform City, in which GH holds a 95% stake, as well as Pyeongtaek Hyeondeok District, Gwangmyeong Hakon, Seongnam Geumto, Anyang Gwanyanggo, and Anyang Indeokwon District.

Through the full-scale investigation of these six districts, the province will identify suspected speculators and then proceed with an in-depth investigation. It will also conduct full-scale investigations on Hanam Gyosan, Gwacheon Gwacheon, and Ansan Jangsang Districts, where the province and GH hold shares among the 3rd new town development districts. Subsequently, the province plans to verify whether public officials of Gyeonggi Province and GH engaged in real estate speculation in the remaining 3rd new town development districts, including Namyangju Wangsuk, Bucheon Daejang, and Gwangmyeong Siheung.

Additionally, the province has decided to closely consult with related cities and counties for investigations of areas adjacent to planned development districts.

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