Seoul Mayor Candidates Threaten 'Full Investigation'... SH Corporation Says "No Employees Involved in Speculation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] After allegations of speculation involving employees of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) surfaced, candidates for the Seoul mayoral by-election promised a full investigation of Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH). In response, SH recently announced the results of an investigation stating that there have been no suspected cases of land speculation in the past 10 years.

According to SH Corporation on the 13th, a full survey on compensation for land and other assets was conducted from the 4th to the 10th, targeting 1,531 employees and 4,484 family members of employees. The survey covered 14 project districts implemented by SH Corporation since 2010.

The investigation found that a total of 4 family members of employees (1 for land, 3 others) received compensation. However, it was confirmed that one person had no suspicion as the compensation was for inherited land before joining the company, and one person showed low suspicion but the facts are still being verified. SH Corporation stated that the remaining two individuals were already severely disciplined (demoted) after an internal investigation in 2019 for submitting false farming documents.

This investigation was conducted under the supervision of SH Corporation’s Audit Office. It cross-checked compensation records with the names and birthdates of employees and their immediate family members registered in the personnel system to determine whether employees or their immediate family members in the same household received compensation for land or fixtures in the 14 project districts implemented since 2010.

SH Corporation stated that, unlike the LH case where land-for-land compensation was one of the major causes of corruption, such compensation was absent in all but some parcels in the Segok 2 district among the 14 project districts under investigation.

Kim Seyong, President of SH Corporation, said, "After encountering the LH case, although we were not subject to government investigation, we proactively conducted a full survey of our project districts to dispel public suspicion." He added, "Since 2018, we have improved the compensation system and conducted frequent inspections, which seems to have effectively prevented compensation-related corruption." He continued, "Going forward, we will operate the organization with integrity as the highest priority to enhance fairness and transparency, and we will do our best to become a corporation that does not lose the trust of the public."

However, regardless of SH Corporation’s announcement of the investigation results, Seoul mayoral candidates Park Young-sun, Oh Se-hoon, and Ahn Cheol-soo are competitively pledging full investigations after taking office. Candidate Park recently stated, "Unjust gains obtained through public office must be confiscated, and the chains of practices that have continued as customs from the past must be completely severed this time." He added, "I will deal with this issue more firmly than anyone else to ensure there is no noise in SH or Seoul city housing-related departments."

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