[Comprehensive] Controversy Over the 'LH Incident' Shaking Public Sentiment... Ruling Party: "What Was the Prosecutors Doing?" vs Opposition: "The Cabinet Must Resign Completely"

Park Young-sun "Let's Conduct a Full Survey of New Town Land"
Yoo Seung-min "President Moon, Shift the Feb 4 Measures to Private Sector Leadership"

The LH Gyeonggi Regional Headquarters in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 12th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Political disputes surrounding the 'Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) scandal' continue. The ruling party pointed out that the current situation arose because the prosecution did not properly investigate the LH speculation allegations and urged the introduction of a special prosecutor, while the opposition party called for the suspension of the 3rd New Town project and the total resignation of the cabinet.

On the 14th, Lee Nak-yeon, the Standing Election Committee Chairperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, wrote on his Facebook, "The political circles are hesitating too much over the LH scandal. Let the National Assembly take the lead in conducting a full investigation. The Conflict of Interest Prevention Act must also be urgently passed," adding, "The government is conducting a super-strong investigation while simultaneously preparing super-strong measures to prevent recurrence. I hope the National Assembly will take a more active role."

He continued, "In July last year, then Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae instructed the prosecution to investigate real estate crimes. However, the prosecution did nothing. Conservative media rather criticized the Ministry of Justice," and pointed out, "In the National Assembly, the opposition party also scolded Minister Choo. We are now seeing the results of that."

Former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae also blamed the prosecution for the LH speculation scandal through her Facebook on the same day, stating, "The prosecution bears the greatest responsibility for the failure to properly investigate corruption in the real estate market."

Choo criticized, "The opposition party is shaking public sentiment with the LH incident and supporting the prosecution while resisting prosecution reform," adding, "However, a 'prosecution republic' and a 'corruption republic' are very similar."

She also mentioned the 'Busan Haeundae LCT preferential treatment suspicion case,' saying, "Has the prosecution perhaps not changed at all over the two decades? The prosecution has minimized and concealed collusion cases between politics and business, never even conducting internal investigations, and despite the responsibility of investigative agencies to find evidence, they have endured with the attitude of 'we will investigate if evidence comes out.'"

She added, "What is the position of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, who claims that the prosecution can properly investigate and be just if it investigates large-scale real estate corruption now?" and said, "The forces that promoted the real estate invincibility myth, like Lee Young-bok, the actual owner of LCT, are precisely the prosecution that had powerful investigation and prosecution authority but did not properly investigate or prosecute and colluded."

President Moon Jae-in attended and gave a congratulatory speech at the appointment ceremony for new police lieutenants and captains held at the Korean National Police University in Asan, Chungnam, on the afternoon of the 12th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Park Young-sun, the Democratic Party candidate for Seoul mayor, said at a press conference held that day, "I request a full investigation of landowners in the planned development areas of the 3rd New Town and large-scale housing development areas to the party and government."

Park said, "The government has started a second investigation targeting spouses and direct relatives of public officials, but it is difficult to identify those who committed illegal speculation under borrowed names by using relatives or acquaintances," adding, "Through a full investigation of landowners, the flow of funds of those involved in borrowed-name speculation must be thoroughly traced to strictly identify illegal speculation forces and hold them accountable."

On the other hand, the opposition party emphasized the total resignation of the cabinet under Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and the need for prompt prosecution investigation. Kim Eun-hye, spokesperson for the People Power Party, issued a statement that day, saying, "The Moon Jae-in administration's real estate policy ended with the dismissal of Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Byun Chang-heum. If there had been any sense of guilt before the people, the 3rd New Town, stained with speculation, should have been suspended, and a full review of the public-led supply plan, which became a hotbed of corruption, should have been conducted."

She continued, "One thing has been clearly confirmed through real estate speculation: fairness and justice in this country are dead," and criticized, "This administration shouted for the eradication of deep-rooted evils throughout its term but became a deep-rooted evil itself. Yet, fearing their true nature being revealed, they are only securing time for evidence destruction on their side by thoroughly excluding prosecution investigations."

Finally, she raised her voice, saying, "The most unfair cabinet in the history of the Republic of Korea, the people can no longer trust this government. Investigations without prosecution have long lost the trust of the people," and urged, "If President Moon truly wants to eradicate real estate corruption under the name of public interest, he should now face the people's frustration and anger, order the total resignation of the cabinet under Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, and restore national discipline."

Yoo Seung-min, co-chairman of the People Power Party's joint election committee, also urged President Moon, saying, "No matter how much the president pushes the LH-led 2.4 real estate plan, will the LH method work now that distrust of LH has reached its peak?" and called for "changing the public-led 2.4 real estate plan to a private-led one and lifting regulations on private supply first."

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