청, "No speculative trading among administrative officers and below... 3 suspicious cases reported to the Special Investigation Headquarters" (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The Blue House announced that after investigating land transactions involving staff members below the level of administrative officers, as well as their spouses and immediate family members, no suspicious speculative transactions were found. However, three suspicious cases will be forwarded to the government joint special task force. Separately, an investigation of Blue House security office staff revealed one case where an employee, together with a family member working at LH, invested near the 3rd New Town, and this individual is currently on standby suspension.

Jung Man-ho, the Blue House Chief of Communication, stated on the 19th, "After a full investigation of land transactions involving all employees below the administrative officer level, their spouses, and immediate family members, it was confirmed that no transactions were conducted by Presidential Secretariat or National Security Office personnel using their official positions or information."

This investigation is the second phase following the first phase, which targeted officials at the level of secretary or higher. Both the first and second phases revealed no suspicious speculative transactions.

Although not speculative, three suspicious cases will be forwarded to the special task force. Chief Jung said, "After in-depth investigation of the three suspicious cases, it was determined that they did not constitute speculation using official information. However, since there should be no suspicion at all, the details will be disclosed in full and the related matters will be submitted to the special task force as reference materials for investigation."

The first suspicious case involves a functional staff member responsible for environmental cleanup who joined in 1999. In addition to a villa near the new town purchased in May 2018 for actual residence, this individual bought a house in April 2017, sold it in 2020, and purchased another apartment in June 2018 under the spouse’s name, which was rented out. Chief Jung explained, "These houses are small properties each valued under 150 million KRW, located more than 1.5 km outside the new town project area. The individual has been residing in the area since 2007 for 14 years. To avoid any suspicion, the related details are being disclosed."

Another case involves the mother of an administrative officer dispatched from a government ministry in December 2019, who purchased 111 square meters of land near the new town around December 2013. Since the purchase was made more than five years before the public announcement of the development plan in December 2018, it is not subject to investigation.

The third case concerns the father of an administrative officer dispatched from the military in December 2019, who purchased 918 square meters of land within the new town project area. The land was bought more than ten years before the public announcement of the development plan in May 2019 and is currently being farmed directly, making it difficult to consider as speculation. Chief Jung stated, "This is the only land transaction within the project area, which is why it was disclosed."

Meanwhile, the Presidential Security Service conducted a separate internal investigation of 3,458 employees and their immediate family members. It was confirmed that one employee, who has worked since 2002, jointly purchased 413 square meters of land in the 3rd New Town area around September 2017 with the spouse of a sibling working at LH. Chief Jung said, "The individual was placed on standby suspension immediately upon confirmation on the 16th, and related materials will be forwarded to the special task force for clear fact verification and determination of any illegality."

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